Descendants of the Death Eaters
by Cariel
Summary: *Complete* Sex, Lies, Murder, Intrigue, Angst, Shippiness...Trouble between R/Hr, D/G, H/OC, D/OC, Harry getting over Slytherin girl gets Ravenclaw gf, more Marwood/Malfoy madness, Loads of plot lines! Sometimes it's good to be evil [(Sequel to MAWHKaDE)]
1. Familiar Faces

Author's Note: This is the sequel to my fic Might as Well Have Kissed a Death Eater, but I think you can enjoy this fic without reading the previous one. From time-to-time I'll add little reminders of what previously happened and if you get confused, feel free to email me or post a question in the review. I'm in love with reviewers!!

Category: Mystery/Drama/Angst/Romance What more could you ask for?  
Timeline: Harry, Ron, and Hermione's 7th year  
Rating: PG-14 for violence, sexual insinuations, and mild swearing   
  
It was the middle of August, the year of Draco Malfoy's seventh and final year at Hogwarts. His father Lucius was unusually eager for him to return to Hogwarts and had an abnormal spring in his step the whole latter part of the summer break. Finding joy in proving other wrong, out of the blue, Draco decided to mention his relationship with a certain Weasley. 

                Over a not-so-extravagant meal of vichyssoise (a fishy soup) served ice cold, served by their House Elf, Dieter, Draco spilled the beans.

                "What did you just say?!" his father demanded, nearly spilling his glass of wine all over the table.

                "I said…Ginny Weasley and I are dating." He grinned devilishly through the entire conversation.

                "He heard you the first time," his mother Narcissa commented with bated breath. "Finish your soup Lucius."

                Lucius ignored his wife, slamming his napkin on the table. "A Weasley? How low could you sink, Draco, to betray our family like this?" he chastised his son. "If you marry her, she'll end up sucking all the wealth from our accounts…" Lucius partially joked. "The Weasley's—"

                "Have more children than they can afford," he repeated his father's lecture, only half-listening and not really caring what he had to say. 

                "Correct. And as muggle-sympathizers—"

                "They aren't worthy of attention from a Malfoy. I know father. I've heard this before."

                "Using her is, of course, allowable…" Lucius hoped this was the case. "Assure me you plan to break her little heart, and I'll not say another word against it."

                "I have no intention of breaking her heart! How dare you suggest such a thing?!"

                "You're actually telling me you have _feelings_," it sounded as though the word stung to speak, "for that carrot-headed _Weasley_."

                Draco swallowed unconsciously as he met his father's icy gaze. With just one glance, his father knew it was true. "So what of it?!" He threw his napkin down, standing up, and left the dining room. He didn't care what his father thought. He was seventeen and wouldn't be living under his father's rules for much longer. He noticed he fought with his father a lot more often these days. 

                It was only a matter of time before everyone in the wizarding world found out he and Ginny were an item. Draco was used to getting complaints and being harassed by fellow Death Eating families, but what about Ginny? What would her parents say when they found out?

                "Miss Virginia Weasley…" Lucius pondered aloud after his son had left the dining room, "What the hell do you have that our son finds so attractive…"

                "He'll get over it, Lucius. He's still just a boy…" She came up behind her husband, rubbing his shoulders. "If not," she whispered in his ear, "there's always fun ways to make sure that little tart isn't a future wife..."

                "I love the way you think, dear."

                "I know," she grinned malevolently. "Now finish your soup… There's a mound of vol-au-vent for dessert…"

Sixteen-year-old Ginny Weasley sat at the kitchen table with her father and mother. Neither one of her parents were speaking to her, which was unnerving. She had just told them about her and Draco. 

                "How long has it been going on?" her father asked gruffly without taking his eyes off the _Daily Prophet_. 

                "I don't know for sure…" She thought back to last Christmas when she had thrown the toffees Draco had bought for her in his face telling him to choke on them and die. "I would say probably since New Years…after Ron punched Draco out." 

                Her mother finally turned to her saying, "Are you sure we're talking about the same boy… Draco Malfoy?" 

                "He really has changed, mum! I know it," Ginny vowed without hesitation. 

                Mrs Weasley saw the emotion in her daughter's eyes and heard the passion in her voice. "Well, if you really believe it, we can't stand in the way." 

                Mr Weasley added, "If he breaks your heart, don't come crying to us…" 

                "Arthur," Mrs Weasley chided. She turned her attention back to Ginny saying, "You're old enough to make your own judgements. If you don't listen to our advice, there's nothing we can do about it. Just know that we love you and trust whatever decisions you make." She patted Ginny's hand. 

                As she smiled at her mother's reassuring gaze, a sleek black owl glided into the kitchen from the slightly open door. Ginny knew the owl well. She had been exchanging letters with Draco all summer, with only a small break when she and her family had gone on holiday. She took the letter in hand while her father swatted at the bird ordering it to 'Shoo'.  She was reminded of what she wanted to ask her parents. "I told you in hopes you'd consider allowing him to stay here a few days before going to Diagon Alley."

                Mr Weasley roared, "I will not have a Malfoy in my house so long as I live! No Malfoy! No Death Eaters! No supporters of You-Know-Who!!" 

                Ginny's eyes filled with tears as she cried, "Fine! I knew you'd say no! Just forget it!" She pushed herself up out of her chair. "Forget I ever asked for anything!" She fled from the room with her letter in hand. She remembered what she told Draco earlier that year when he asked her if she still wanted to be his girlfriend: _"I know that this might not work out with us as couple because of everything going against us, but no matter what, I want us to be allies if not friends."_ But she still felt like crying. Clutching the letter to her chest, she was comforted and didn't need to cry.

                Mrs Weasley felt horrible that Ginny was upset. "Maybe he _is_ different from his father," she suggested after Ginny had left.

                "Impossible," he replied. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

                "You know nothing's impossible, Arthur. Maybe there's hope that he won't turn out like Lucius. Maybe Ginny has a positive influence on him."

                "That's few too many 'maybes' for my taste, Molly," he responded gloomily. 

                "Even if it's just a chance, shouldn't we should indulge her?" she wondered hopefully.      

                Mr Weasley simply resumed reading the _Daily Prophet_, forcing himself to pretend that nothing was wrong; that his daughter wasn't dating a Malfoy. Just as the ruse was working, his eyes fell upon an article entitled, _"Is a Malfoy-Weasley Wedding in the Cards_?" He turned the page quickly only to find other similarly entitled articles. _"Weasleys Find Their Fortune"_ with a picture of Draco Malfoy next to it.

Mr Weasley was far from pleased.

Archive: This story is indeed my property (as in I created the situation, the dialogue etc.) It may be passed along and archived as long as my name goes right along with it. Please ask me first. My email is PKCariel@hotmail.com. Let me know where it's at so I can come visit. =) 

Disclaimer: All characters have been borrowed with love, but not permission. No copyright infringement is intended. 


	2. Summer Lovin'

Meanwhile, Ron was with Hermione upstairs in his room. Ron had received his Head Boy badge earlier in the summer and ever since Hermione received her letter stating she was named a Prefect, the two of them had been overly affectionate, so much so that it nearly made Harry sick.

                He knew they weren't intentionally rubbing the fact they were a couple in his face. On the contrary, every time Harry interrupted something, they would jump away from each other so quickly and try to act explicitly platonic. This irked Harry more than the fact they were in an intimate relationship. The reason they acted this way was to avoid hurting Harry's feelings. They didn't want him to be depressed about or reminded of Laura. Harry knew this, but by the end of the summer, he was tired of it. He didn't want them to act fake around him. He entered Ron's room to see his best friends kissing yet again. "Harry!" Ron said as the two of them quickly separated and jumped to opposite sides of the room.

                Harry waved a hello before saying, "You can stop doing that now- pushing each other away just because I've entered a room. It's silly really." He waved a hand dismissively at them saying, "Go back to the way you were," he said as if he was an army commander saying 'At ease'.

                "You don't care if we're-we were- Oh you know what I mean…" Hermione questioned hesitantly.

                Harry denied it. "Of course I don't. I'd rather you were honest with yourselves and me. I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me. For Merlin's sake, I'm your best friend, aren't I?"

                Hermione smiled and hugged Harry. 

                Ron slapped Harry on the back saying, "Thanks mate."

                "Just one thing- could you refrain from snogging in front of me?"

                Hermione was blushing so much, the colour of her cheeks were close to the colour of Ron's hair. She avoided Harry's eyes as Ron assured him they wouldn't. How could Ron have the courage to talk about something like that with Harry? She smiled as Ron's arm went around her waist. She had gotten over her nervousness of Ron's touch, but hadn't nearly gotten over the nervousness of public displays of affection.

                A smiling Ginny came barging into the room with a letter in hand. 

                "You're all smiles, Ginny," Hermione noticed.

                She held up her letter, grinning. "From Draco," she informed her.

                Ron and Harry groaned at the same time. 

                Hermione was curious. "What does he have to say?"

                Ginny read aloud, _"Dear Ginny, I hope your parents didn't give you too much trouble when you told them about us…"_ He went on to talk about his parents' reaction and concluded with, _"…if not, then I hope to meet up with you in Diagon Alley. Missing you, Draco."_

                "Missing you?" Ron faked a gagging motion with sound effects. Harry laughed at Ron's actions. "Who does he think he's fooling?"

                Ginny frowned and Hermione felt bad that her boyfriend was teasing his sister. She disliked Draco more than anyone else in the world, but she had to believe that people could change. "Stop it, Ron…"

                "What part did you skip?" Ron snatched the letter from Ginny's hands, trying to find some secret 'I love you…lie lie lie…' that he could either tease Malfoy about or catch him in a lie.

                "Give it back!" Ginny yelled. "OOO I HATE you Ron!" She jumped to grab at the letter, but he held it out of reach.

                "Just give it back, Ron." Hermione stroked his arm calmly, but he was having too much fun.

Soon it was that time of the year again to buy new school supplies in Diagon Alley. For Harry, Ron, and Hermione, it was their final time to shop for school supplies and even though the two boys would deny it, it was kind of sad. Hermione was nearly in tears as she walked into Flourish and Blotts to buy her last schoolbooks. Ron didn't know what to do; if he should comfort her or what, so he just left her alone. Harry couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic. This was their last year. Who knew what the future would bring? Would they ever be as close as they are now? Only time would tell.

                Ginny planned to meet Draco at noon just outside the Owl Emporium. Ron was watchful of Ginny, knowing she'd inevitably meet up with Draco and he wasn't about to let her go alone even though it was the middle of the day. 

                Her parents had a clue what was going on when she broke away from the group and they watched warily as she ran to embrace Draco Malfoy. "I don't like it Arthur, I don't like it at all." Mrs Weasley folded her arms across herself, staring at the two of them. Worry strained her voice and shook her nerves.

                "It's all right, Molly," her husband told her with a hint of disparagement. "You said so yourself: they're just kids after all."

                Ron returned to Flourish and Blotts complaining to Harry and Hermione about how he just saw his sister reunite with Malfoy after the summer break. "It was disgusting! And he still addresses me as Weasel or some other rotten nickname- Don't understand what Ginny sees in him! She could do so much better!" 

                "Ron, calm down!" Hermione ordered. "Don't cause a scene!"

                Harry laughed partially to himself. He didn't know which was the most entertaining, Ron getting mad over something he had no control over or Hermione bossing him around like his mother. 

                "Why are you laughing, Harry?" Ron put the question to him fairly.

                "Your going on about Ginny and Malfoy."

                Ron, secretly wishing Ginny still had a crush on Harry, told him straight out, "Malfoy's going to corrupt her!"

                Hermione was concerned about Ron's agitation as well as Ginny's well-being, but also wondered if Ginny still had any feelings left for Harry. Ginny's old crush sure was huge…maybe there was some left? Maybe if Harry showed interest in her? But Harry's heart was still broken from that tart Laura. Laura had nearly gotten Harry expelled because he had nearly murdered Malfoy for her.

                After buying their books, the trio walked out onto the street in time to see Malfoy, with his arm around Ginny, walk into the Quidditch supply store. The site caused Harry to remember his ex-girlfriend, Laura and hoped that Malfoy would treat Ginny right. He'd better or he'd get it from both Ron and Harry. 

                "I'm gonna kill 'em," Ron declared, slamming his fist into his hand.

                "Malfoy'd run away from you faster than you'd have run from Aragog, Ron. If his father's as much of a kiss-ass to Voldemort as I think he is, Malfoy's just as cowardly," Harry assured him

                "How is that comforting?!" Ron demanded.

                "I'm just saying that he's too cowardly to be manipulative…" Harry hoped what he said was true, but knew he needed to calm Ron down before he started something he'd get in trouble for. "He's just a scared little ferret."


	3. Skirts on Brooms

Days flew by like Oliver Wood zooming on his broom during a Quidditch game. Soon it was the second week of term, time for Quidditch tryouts and this year, everyone was happy. Ron finally made the team as a Beater and Seamus was named Quidditch Captain which was a surprise and a slight disappointment to Harry who had been on the team the longest. Harry supposed they didn't want any extra attention to be on the Boy-Who-Lived and he thought it really stunk. 

                The biggest surprise in Quidditch wasn't that Malfoy was named Captain of Slytherin's team, but that the Ravenclaw Captain was their best Beater- Andersson. Andersson was lean yet muscular, standing a few centimetres taller than Harry, but a hair shorter than Ron. Neither Harry nor Ron could remember Andersson being in any of their classes, but there was good reason for overlooking her. 

                Kelly Andersson was the girl in their class who always sat nearest the back. She was the medium-height blonde girl who wasn't noticed by anyone, at least not until her seventh year. Now, coming back from summer holiday, she was a head taller than before, precisely filled out, athletically built from practicing Quidditch, and no longer afraid of talking to the opposite sex. Being of Scandinavian descent, she was naturally blonde with dark blue eyes and with proper training, she would be strong as a Viking. Now she made everything she wore look good. Kelly's closest friends were fellow seventh year Ravenclaws Padma Patil and Seamus Finnigan's girlfriend Siena Kieran. 

                "Too bad the girls' uniforms don't require Lacrosse attire," Captain Seamus remarked to his male team-mates. 

                "What do you mean?" Ron asked, without moving his eyes from Andersson. He hadn't a clue what Lacrosse was and assumed it was some muggle game.

                "I mean, the girls' teams have to wear skirts," Seamus answered as if they should know already. 

                "Skirts on brooms… That'd be unpractical, don't you think?" one of their female team-mates interrupted intentionally.

                "It'd be distracting, that's what it'd be," Harry said, unable to peel his eyes off Andersson. 

                All the boys laughed. 

                "And you get to spend loads of time with her, Ron," Dean put in. "You lucky git."

                "Huh?" Ron finally turned his attention away from the blonde and focused on Seamus. "How's that?"

                "You're Head Boy, right?" Dean grinned boyishly. Ron nodded. "She's Head Girl." He elbowed Ron in the side. "You lucky git!!" he exclaimed again.

                "Getting to know that lass on a more personal level, eh, Ron?"  Seamus nudged him as well, chuckling. 

                All the boys were jealous of Ron, but he didn't mind the attention one bit. At least, not until Hermione found out about it… 

Laura Fleur Marwood, daughter of one of the most powerful and influential supporters of Lord Voldemort, was not attending Hogwarts this year. Even though she was sixteen years old, she had only attended Hogwarts for a year, but was sent away to America by Dumbledore. The story behind her expulsion was a complicated one, but it didn't matter, she was in the US now. Starting her first official year at an American high school was scary and strange to her. She was living in a boarding school surrounded by muggles. 

                They must have taken a personality test before placing her with her roommate because the girl she was assigned to room with was a practicing Wiccan. The two of them hated their classes and hated their living situation. Most of the time they skipped class in order to wander around the streets near the boarding house and investigate 'magic' shops. Laura wasn't impressed by the supplies in any 'magic' shop or 'curious' bookstore. She had lived in the wizarding world all her life—even after her mother's murder—and to see the muggle's interpretation of magic was laughable. She didn't say any of this to her new friend, but she did help her learn the basics of _real_ magic. The American girl was very interested in magic and actually appeared to have talent. Laura wondered why she hadn't received a letter to a wizarding school.

                Laura found American education to be rather boring because it lacked the mysteriousness of the wizarding world unto which she was born. Magic and spells instilled in her blood coursed through her, pressing her to use her building powers, but she was uneducated in how to _control_ and _wield_ them properly. She wasn't able to be in the United Kingdom because she was in danger. If her father found her, who knew what he would do?

                Isabella was from a rich family like Laura, but when her parents divorced, they didn't want to deal with her so they sent her away to boarding school. That was three years ago. She'd been at the high school ever since. She dressed in all black—when they weren't required to wear uniforms—and wore thick dark eyeliner. She called this look "Goth", but Laura didn't care. She was just glad to have someone appreciative of magic to talk to. The two of them hung out with a group of girls who claimed they were witches, but Laura was disappointed to find out they had no knowledge of magic or any real abilities. They tried to mix stupid love potions and made up incorrect spells. None of their 'magic' worked and Laura was tired of their company within a few weeks. 

                During the second month of classes, Laura drew away from the crowds of pretend witches, spending most of her time in the library or in her room. She still waited for a letter from Harry that was never coming. Didn't he care about her? Didn't he love her? Well, she _had_ been the one that told him to move on and find someone else. But still, she couldn't help but feel sad that he hadn't at least replied to her letter. Now she was stuck here in the US with girls who pretended to be witches.


	4. Enough Talking

Potions class was more interesting this year, at least for those who paid attention in class and didn't mind calculations. "Precision, class…is essential in making accurate potions," Snape spoke in his clear, bored voice as he walked around the classroom. "Watch what you're doing Finnigan!" He grabbed Seamus' hand before he poured in a purple liquid. "Aging potions need to be smooth!" He passed by Ron and Harry. "All right Potter… Rancid Weasley! You'll have to start over." 

                Snape got to the front of the room where Kelly and Lavender sat. "Miss Brown, you could learn from Miss Andersson. She's got a fine sample of aging potion." Kelly beamed at the praise. "Test it," he commanded her lab partner.  
                Lavender put a dab of the potion on her tongue and suddenly she was twenty years old. "Excellent," Snape commended.

                Their Potions exam was that Friday and Ron hadn't improved a bit. When they got the results back, Ron groaned at his score. 

                When Hermione saw it, she refrained from rebuking him for not studying hard enough. She knew Ron had a lot of things on his plate what with Quidditch practice three times a week and the responsibilities that went along with being Head Boy. His marks overall looked well compared to last years, so she wasn't worried. "You'll do better next time."

                Ron raised an eyebrow, expecting her to be disappointed in him, but she smiled reassuringly. He didn't believe he could do better, at least not in Potions. He knew he needed to get help, but he didn't think asking Hermione would be a good idea…as much as he wished she could help him. "Yeah," Ron replied, still wondering what he should do.  "I guess I'll have to concentrate harder when I study or something."

After one of the Prefect meetings, Lavender pulled Ron aside while Hermione was chatting with a Hufflepuff girl. "I heard about your Potions mark," she informed him.

                "How?" he asked, pretending not to care.

                "Well from Hermione of course. You're all she talks about these days."

                Ron grinned at that, but tried not to show his slight embarrassment.

                "Anyway, I thought I might be able to help." Ron waited for her to continue. "After nearly failing an exam, I think you should get a tutor."

                "Who do you have in mind?" Ron thought she was going to offer herself as a tutor.

                "Kelly Andersson of course," she informed him. "She's great at Potions. Helped me quite a bit last year come to think of it."

                "Erm, sure all right." Ron remembered how much Snape praised her aging potion and figured if someone was going to help him, it might as well be someone Snape favoured.

                Ron had nearly forgotten who Kelly Andersson was. Lavender set up a meeting for the two of them without letting Hermione know. Ron wasn't about to ask them if either of them would tell his girlfriend or not, but didn't want to. He didn't want her to know that he was getting help. 

               Kelly sat at a desk, twirling a quill around in her fingers, waiting for him to arrive and when he entered, she stood up to welcome him. "Hey Ron." She put a hand forward and he grasped it, shaking it.

                "Look, Kelly, I know we haven't talked much over the past few years, but, um, thanks for offering to help me with Potions." He went to sit down and took out his notes from class.

                "It's not a problem really. Isn't studying a Ravenclaw's specialty?" she grinned.

                After the first tutoring session, which lasted about an hour, Kelly broached the topic of Quidditch. "You play for Gryffindor this year, right?"

                "Erm, yeah. I'm a Beater."

                "Me too!"

                Ron had forgotten that. Head Girl _and_ Quidditch Captain…she was bloody good at everything! They talked for hours about Quidditch and neither of them realized how much time had passed. Soon Lavender returned and was surprised to see the two of them still sitting there. "So I guess things are going good for you two?" she questioned, smiling.

                "I better get back to Gryffindor Tower. Thanks for your help. See you in class." Ron rushed from the room, hoping Hermione wasn't aware of his long absence. 

                "I should be getting back too," Lavender agreed. The two of them walked back to Gryffindor Tower together without talking about anything important. 

                Ron kept thinking about how strange it was that a _girl_ knew so much about Quidditch…a girl that was that good looking too. Though Hermione knew something about everything, she didn't know a whole lot about Quidditch. She felt time was better spent memorizing passages from _Hogwarts, a History _than Quidditch stats, but Ron didn't mind not talking to her about Quidditch. There were plenty of other topics of conversation and other things they could do with the time they spent together… But he _did_ like to indulge himself once in awhile and discuss Quidditch with Harry. Now Harry, Seamus, and Dean weren't the only ones he could argue about Quidditch with. He found a new friend in Kelly and besides being beautiful, she _was_ extremely intelligent. 

                When they passed through the portrait, Ron left Lavender and sat down next to where Hermione sat on the couch. "Miss me?"

                "Where've you been?" she wondered, "I was counting on going through tomorrows course work with you." She pulled out her _Standard Book of Spells Grade 7_. 

                "Why? So you could tell me how wrong I did it?" 

                Hermione gave him a sideways glance. "No…"

                Ron knew that grin very well by now. "No?"

                "It's an excuse really…" she said.

                "What for?" he asked as if he didn't know.

                "So I could do this," she said as she leaned closer to him, her hand stroking his cheek softly, and kissed him on the lips. As his arms went around her, she allowed her head to rest in his hand, sighing. She let him kiss her neck, opening her eyes and smiling. She wanted to tell him she loved him, but she didn't know how to. She also didn't want to distract him from what he was doing to her because she didn't want him to stop. Ever.

                Without warning he did just that. "What's the matter?" she whispered huskily.

                He whispered in her ear. "Harry…"

                "Oh, oh…Harry…" She sat up, pushing Ron away from her. "How are you?"

                "Fine," Harry nearly laughed. "How are you?" As if he needed to ask! Without waiting for an answer, he walked up to his room.


	5. Jealousy

"Malfoy's become a bloody Gryffindor, he has," Vincent Crabbe muttered to his fellow Slytherin cohorts as they shuffled past the study room where Malfoy and Weasley sat together.              

                "He deserves to have his wittle heart broken," Crabbe's girlfriend Millicent Bulstrode added as she tweaked Crabbe's ear teasingly.

                "I can't believe that git, ditching us for some mudblood-lover," Goyle moped before saying the entrance password. 

                "You know, he thinks we've got no brains, but we'll show 'em, eh, Goyle?" Zabini said. 

                "Bloody hell yes!" Goyle cheered.

                "Crabbe?" Zabini questioned.

                "Count me in!" Crabbe replied enthusiastically.

                Pansy Parkinson appeared from behind Zabini. "We'll teach him not to go behind our backs like that!"

                The three boys and Bulstrode looked at Pansy expectantly. "You've got a plan?" Zabini asked her.

                "Maybe I do," she said, smiling malevolently. "We'll get him and it'll be quite entertaining." The five of them sat down in the empty common room and began plotting the downfall of one of their Prefects.

Ron, being the oblivious boy he was, didn't think of spending hours studying with a beautiful and very available girl as a problem. He wasn't one to think much about how other people perceived things because he was a boy. He didn't know that spending extra time after classes with a member of the opposite sex translated to fancying them. 

Whether he liked it or not, Ron was the poster-boy for cheating boyfriends. 

All the boys thought of him as their hero and all the girls thought he was a cheating git who needed to be bitch-slapped by Hermione. No one, however, informed Hermione of the situation between Kelly and Ron. Perhaps they pitied her, or perhaps they were too afraid of what Hermione would do to him, but the fact remained a rumour. But Hermione wasn't thick and she had a suspicion something was going on, but she didn't know with whom.

                One night Hermione spotted Lavender and Ron returning late to the common room after his tutoring session with Kelly. She couldn't believe her eyes when Lavender joyfully kissed him on the cheek before skipping up the stairs to go to bed.

                Ron flopped onto the couch next to her, smiling broadly.

                "What was that for?" Hermione questioned in a shirty tone.

                "What was what?-oh, who Lavender?" he asked stupidly.

                "She kissed you-"

                "What-that? It's like you kissing Harry-" he answered foolishly. "She doesn't mean anything by it, I'm sure." Lavender had just squealed her congratulations on his improved grade in Potions and then kissed him on the cheek… 

                Hermione uncrossed and re-crossed her arms, determined to confront Lavender about this later.

                Ron wrapped his arms around her, chuckling to himself about his girlfriend getting jealous over something harmless. He couldn't blame her…he'd have punched out anyone—save Harry—if he caught her kissing _their_ cheek.

                Before going to her own bed, Hermione made it her mission to beat the truth out of Lavender. Perhaps 'beat' was an incorrect term, more like 'persuade'. Her wand was quickly at the ready.

                "I know he's your boyfriend, Hermione. I'm not trying to get in the way." 

Lavender should have been scared if she had been guilty, so Hermione put her wand away. "Well, don't kiss my boyfriend!" she fumed. 

                "OK, I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be so angry," Lavender said calmly in as kind of a voice as she could muster under the circumstance. She was the type of person that didn't want to have enemies. She liked Hermione, Ron, and Harry a lot and thought of herself as their ally. "Actually I still have feelings for Seamus, so…whatever," she rejected.

                "I'm sorry." Hermione felt bad for bringing up her ex.

                "Well, he's dating that Ravenclaw Siena Kieran."

                "No!" Hermione gasped. "That girl who wants everyone to call her 'Tiena' now since she returned from America, Siena?"

                "The same," Lavender sighed, dejectedly.

                "The Siena who makes up words like 'Oliver-licious' and calls Malfoy's father Luscious?!"

                Lavender nodded. 

                Hermione shook her head. "I don't know what he sees in her… She tries to be…what does she call it…something with the word ghetto in it…" 

                "I believe, 'ghetto fabulous' is the term she uses." Lavender collapsed on her bed. "She's obsessed with some white rapper saying she can relate to him because they're both Black people trapped in a Caucasian body or something… I don't know…"

                All thoughts about Ron cheating on her with Lavender flew out the window. She sat next to where Lavender lay. She thought about changing the subject. "So do you have a date for the ball?"

                "I'm going with Dean."

                "Really?" Hermione was shocked.  "Rather early isn't it?"

                "Yeah, he asked me last week." She put her arms behind her head. "You know, you don't have to worry about me fancying Ron."

                "I know. I'm sorry."             

After her chat with Hermione, Lavender thought it'd be best if she talked to Kelly about Ron. She knew they liked to talk about Quidditch, but she didn't know if Kelly was accumulating feelings for Ron. She needed to make sure Kelly knew that she hadn't a chance with him because he was already spoken for. She didn't want Kelly's feelings to get hurt. 

                Once she got Kelly alone after a tutoring session, she confronted her. "I wasn't sure if you fancied Ron or if you wanted just to be his friend, but Hermione nearly cursed me for congratulating Ron on his exam results," Lavender told her honestly.

"Why would she curse you?"

"Didn't you know?" 

"Know what?" 

"That Hermione and Ron are together?" 

"Oh, you mean… Well I thought they were just close friends. I didn't think they were dating. They fight an awful lot to like each other like _that_." Kelly's eyes were sparkling, but Lavender wasn't sure if they were filling with tears. 

Lavender sighed. 

Kelly realized that Lavender knew them better than her, probably because she was a Gryffindor and she wasn't. "You must think I'm so thick to believe that I had a chance with him…what was I thinking?" 

"Don't feel bad, Kelly. At least you don't have a thing for your ex-boyfriend," she admitted.

Kelly imitated Siena's walk declaring, "You don't _know_ me!" 

Lavender was nearly in stitches when Kelly sauntered back to her from across the room in an exaggerated strut. "Something-something _all_ and _like_ and bling-bling, your mother!"

"And what's with her pet? She calls it Fleur and decks it out with imitation jewellery she calls 'ice'?!"

"It looks like a panda, but it's more like a ferret," Kelly surmised.

They laughed together about Seamus' new love-interest and what a foolish pair they were.


	6. Snoggin' Like No One's Business

It was a Friday evening in late November around 4:30pm when it hit Harry that everyone around him seemed to be going crazy. Well, it wasn't necessarily uncommon for the older Hogwarts students to be daft before the annual Christmas Ball, but it was unnaturally apparent to him this year, probably because last year he had such a good time with his girlfriend and now she wouldn't be there. He took notice of how "stupid" the girls acted, spending an inordinate amount of time primping before going to class or anywhere outside of their rooms where potential dates might be lurking. He also noticed the way the boys behaved and how some actually bothered to bathe… It was odd to see the self-assured boys like Dean become nervous and anxious, feigning coolness of character around the girls. The girls huddled together, whispering more than usual and giggling every time they passed a potential date.

Harry was jogging around the Quidditch field and stopped to take a breather. 

He didn't understand why it was the boys who always had to pluck up the courage to ask girls to the ball. Life would be so much easier if the girls were the ones to ask. Another irking matter was the fact that dating couples were already set on dates: no one had to ask them and for everyone else, they were off limits, obviously. He envied his best friends because it wasn't as if they had any asking to do. And it wasn't as if they still had feelings about their ex. It really wasn't fair. No, no… He didn't think about her constantly. He never knew how hard it was to get over someone. This was his first time experiencing that nagging tug on his heart every time he heard her name, his first time mistaking someone walking down the hallway ahead of him as his ex… 

He resumed jogging again. It helped to clear his mind. He had taken to running after Quidditch practice to get his mind off the stresses of school a few years ago and now it was a ritual of not thinking about her. He didn't have Quidditch practice tonight, but he needed to go for a run anyway. The Quidditch pitch belonged to the Ravenclaws this evening and he noticed their captain giving her team-mates a few last pointers before calling it a night. It started to get dark earlier now and as it was after 5pm now, the setting sun streaked through the clouds. It was probably the fading sunlight glistening through her hair as she took out her ponytail allowing her blonde locks to flow freely that made Harry stopped again. When he looked, he wasn't thinking about anything in particular; nothing worth mentioning. He just admired her visage. 

At the same time, Hermione was uncharacteristically wandering around the Quidditch practice field obviously searching for Harry because she knew of running habit. She too stopped in her tracks when she saw the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. She was surprised that there were so many girls on the team this year, but assumed it was due to the fact that their captain was female. She watched as Andersson dismissed her team-mates and was impressed with her style. Hermione thought for a team captain, she wasn't half bad, but when Kelly undid her hair, Hermione's opinion of the girl dropped suddenly. She was jealous of her, just as many people envied Hermione for being smart, but Hermione thought it was stupid and immature of her to dislike this girl.

Everyone had ignored Kelly until this year. Hermione figured everyone pretended she didn't exist, ignoring her presence, so she _deserved_ to get all the attention. She _deserved_ to be acknowledged and looked at and admired. She _deserved_ to be spoken to for once and to be popular! Hermione desperately tried to stamp out her irrational and illogical jealousy as she trod over to where Harry stood gaping like the adolescent and hormonal boy he was.

"Harry!" Hermione called in an unusually cheerful voice.

"You want something?" he asked.

"No, I was just getting a breath of fresh air in between study sessions…" she sarcastically remarked. 

"Why weren't you at supper?" she asked as they walked back indoors. She was glad she brought her cloak because it was rather nippy. "Is everything OK?"

He shook his head and looked at her. "Yeah, I was abducted by Voldemort because they were serving turnips tonight. That's why I didn't make it."

"Don't joke about that, Harry," her serious voice replied.

Harry laughed offhandedly saying, "If anyone's entitled to joke about You-Know-Who, it's me."

He had a point. 

"So what are you really doing here? I know it's not because you missed me at supper." 

"What do you think? I came looking for you. We're supposed to get started on our Defence Against the Dark Arts project bec—"

He cut her off saying, "Because it's due in a month and we won't have any time during December what with Christmas and the Christmas Ball coming up."

She was impressed. "EXACTLY! Oh, if only Ron was as practical as you!"

Harry laughed.

Meanwhile, Draco and Ginny were in the empty Divination classroom. Draco had received a detention for making a joke about Trelawney's lack of _vision_ and was instructed to polish all the crystal balls. Ginny had wandered in after missing him at supper. Once Trelawney was gone, she sat down next to him, helping until they were finished. The lavender incense that supposedly helped with visualizations and "third-eye" seeing, but more likely numbed the mind and heightened the senses floated around the pair. Ginny's mind entertained a warning signal that no one else was in the room with them and that Draco shouldn't be sitting so close to her, but before she could follow her thoughts to conclusion, she found her boyfriend's lips on hers.

Ginny was used to his wandering hands, but she knew in this situation it was dangerous. "Draco…" she murmured against his cheek as their mutual kneeling position slowly lowered to the floor. 

The burning flowers scented her auburn tresses and engulfed, he drowned in the intoxicating fragrance, wanting, longing to finally taste every essence of her. 

"Draco…" she breathed again, more forcefully this time around. She pushed him away, though reluctantly.

"Ginny," his ragged breath replied, forcing himself not to be cross.

Her cheeks were flushed as she pulled her knees to her chest. She opened her mouth to apologize.

"It's OK, sweetheart," he told her, "I shouldn't have pressured you."

"You weren't…you aren't…it's OK."

Ginny was better than Laura. Better in so many ways... He didn't deserve such an angel. What was he thinking… Her brother was probably right about him: that he would corrupt Ginny. He didn't want to prove him right.

Now, Ginny found that Draco was sitting too far away from her. She moved so that she was sitting between his legs, and she pulled his arms around her as she leaned back to recline against his broad chest. They sat there, contently for hours.

A/N: I didn't include a Christmas Ball sequence in the last fic (book???) because I thought it was cliché, but after some nagging from my lil sis, I decided to have a little fun with it this time around. There _was_ a ball during their 6th year if you want, but…Hermione and Ron went with random people and Ginny didn't go...Harry obviously went with Laura and was the only one of the trio to have a good time. There…that was easy…   
  
btw- Yule Ball is only when they have a Triwizard Tournament, so I decided to call the dance the Christmas Ball. So there!

Next up: Quidditch! And rumors!  
btw-most of the chapters are going to be longer, just like this one. 


	7. Slytherin versus Ravenclaw

Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, accompanied Millicent and Pansy to the Quidditch game on Saturday, but instead of heading straight for the Slytherin stands, they decided to take turns walking within hearing distance of Ginny.

                "Have you heard about Malfoy mucking about with Weasley in the Divination classroom last night?" Zabini casually mentioned in a loud enough tone for Ginny to hear.

                "No!" Pansy gasped dramatically. 

                "Finally stuffed that mudblood-lover…it's about time! He was getting edgy and that anxiety would be bad for his game," Goyle added.

"But Draco came to my room last night! Why would he cheat on me like that! He told me they broke up because she wouldn't put out!" They walked away just as Crabbe and Millicent began their approach.

                "You're wrong Vinny…" Ginny groaned when she heard Millicent call Crabbe 'Vinny'. "Sure Malfoy was there, but that doesn't mean I slept with him!"

                "But you're always makin' eyes at him…"

"Am not! Take that back!" Smack! went her hand on her boyfriends face.

"I love it when you're angry," Crabbe remarked playfully.

Ginny used all of her will power to avoid glaring at the Slytherins. She couldn't believe what she had heard. Draco…with Pansy last night? He slept with Pansy because she hadn't put out? Wait, Zabini and Goyle were saying she and Draco really had…you know…and they hadn't… She shook her head frantically trying to forget about the stupid Slytherins who probably made everything up. But why _would_ they make it all up? Well, Pansy obviously was just jealous of her and Draco…yeah…that was it. Ginny had Draco and _she_ didn't! 

As she found her seat, she couldn't fully convince herself that the Slytherins were lying. It all sounded logical even though Draco seemed to have taken her decision to wait honourably. She wanted to talk to him about it after the game. She ignored the pesky part of her brain that wanted answers and supported her boyfriend as he raced for the snitch.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat behind Ginny in the stands. Ron barely even noticed as the Ravenclaw beater zoomed past because he was preoccupied with the way Ginny was cheering for Slytherin and Draco to win. 

                Hermione was busy looking from Ron, to where he was glaring at Ginny's back, to Harry, whose entire attention was concentrated on the Ravenclaw beater, drooling along with the other Gryffindor boys. She shook her head. 

                Malfoy whooshed past, chasing the snitch just as Ravenclaw scored again. "Come on Draco!" Ginny cheered.

                Ron shook his head muttering, "Bugger him!"

                Hermione didn't think before saying, "She's old enough to make her own choices, Ron."

                "She's my little sister!" He didn't even bother looking at her when he replied.

                "She's only a year younger than you! How'd you feel if Fred or George didn't approve of you dating me?"

                She had a point. He finally turned to look at her. "It's just that…if she were a boy, I wouldn't feel this need to protect her."

                "She's not helpless, you know. She's a big girl. She's sixteen…" He snorted. Her arms went around him. Leaning her head on his shoulder she said, "She can take care of herself. As much as you'd still like to protect her, she needs to learn things on her own."

                "If it wasn't Malfoy…"

                "If it wasn't, you'd still feel the same."

                Ravenclaw was racking up points like mad. Harry laughed as Malfoy fumbled his chance at the snitch before turning attention back to Kelly... She was talented. There was no doubt about that.

                Malfoy finally caught the snitch, not wanting Slytherin to be embarrassed any further. Since Ravenclaw had accumulated more points than the snitch was worth, Slytherin lost. 

Laura sat in her dorm room with her roommate Isabella and two other girls from class within a circle they deemed their 'sacred space'. Isabella leaned forward to light the candle between them. Laura sniggered when Isabella used really large words trying to sound formal, thinking it just sounded dull. "What if I told you I was a REAL witch?" 

                "So am I," Isabella frankly told her.

                "You do seem to have some magical talent, but I'm telling you, it's in my blood!" Laura tried to convince her.

                "Mine too! I told you about my crazy old aunts and how they used various herbs-and—"

                "That's only part of it-only _one_ aspect of magical studies called Herbology. What if I told you there's a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

                All three girls' eyes were on her.

                "You Brits are crazy!" one of the other girls exclaimed. The two of them got up and left.

                Laura looked to Isabella. "Well, in your own words, you're 'mad'… that's I'll I can say."

                "You don't believe me?"

                "Hell no, I don't believe you." She blew out the candle and started cleaning up the floor.

                Laura went to her bed and pulled out her trunk from under it. She unwrapped a carefully folded, long, cylindrical case and removed her wand. Dumbledore made her relinquish her wand when she left Hogwarts, but he didn't know she had gone out to buy a replacement wand during the middle of last year. She had given her faulty wand to Dumbledore. Laura walked over to her roommate with her wand pointed at her. "_Accio_, Book of Shadows!" 

                The book flew out of Isabella's hand into Laura's. "Holy shit! How'd you do that?"

                Laura smiled proudly. 

                "Show me more," Isabella said with wide eyes.

                "I'm not really supposed to do magic—I was expelled from the school I told you about and underage magic is strictly forbidden."

                "Just one more thing…" she pleaded.

                How could Laura resist the opportunity to show off? She aimed her wand at the candle. "_Lacamum Inflamaray_!"

                Sparks spurt from her wand and melted the entire candle.

                "Blast! I'm sorry about that," Laura apologized, but Isabella was too shocked to speak.

                "This is the real deal…" she barely breathed. "Damn…"

Dumbledore received a notice from the Ministry about underage use of magic in America. Laura Marwood's name was written across the top of the parchment. If word got out of her whereabouts, it could spell trouble. He knew her father wasn't one to be crossed and had become powerful within the Death Eaters. 

                He got out a fresh piece of parchment and wrote to the American Witchcraft Association of Laura's current location and predicament. 


	8. Take me

After the Quidditch game, Ginny congratulated Draco on catching the snitch, even though Slytherin didn't win. She was proud of him anyway, but after she kissed him, she couldn't help herself from thinking about Pansy or Millicent kissing those lips…

                Normally only attuned to his own narcissistic self, Ginny changed all of that. He noticed when things bothered her. "What's that matter, sugar?"

                "Nothing…nothing…"

                "People only repeat a lie if they're trying to convince themselves of something," he told her straight. "Believe me, I know."

                Ginny smirked. "Go change," she commanded, giving him a quick kiss. "We'll talk afterwards, all right?"

                He grinned back at her. "All right." He ran in to shower and change.

                As much as Ginny loved Draco in his Quidditch uniform, it reminded her of the fateful Saturday that Harry had nearly killed him. "By accident," she muttered under her breath, "by accident…because of Laura…" She paced around the corridor towards Slytherin Tower where they planned to meet. She remembered a time she wouldn't be caught dead in that hallway, but all that had changed when she realized she fancied Draco Malfoy. 

                "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" a voice from behind her pondered.

                She whipped around to see the face of Zabini. 

                "Waiting for that scatty git of a boyfriend of yours?" 

                "As a matter of fact, I am. What's it to you?" Ginny scowled, crossing her arms.

                Zabini moved closer to her like a rat attracted to fodder. "Was he a good shag?" he sneered from behind her, in her ear as he circled her.

                Ginny was outraged and deeply humiliated. She didn't know whether she wanted to punch the rat in front of her or scream insults or cry. Instead, she ignored him.

                Getting nothing from his victim, he taunted her some more until he got bored and walked through the portrait hole muttering about Ginny being a 'good-for-nothing slag'. Finally Draco showed up. He was dressed in casual weekend attire of slacks and a sweater, while Ginny still had her robes on. They walked together without saying anything to a vacant study room so they could talk.

                Before Ginny opened her mouth, he told her, "I think I know why you're upset. Gods! And they pretend to be my friends!" He ran a hand through his normally slicked-back hair, which had been cut shorter over the summer and now spiked quite nicely through his fingers without the use of much hair gel. He hated the way they tormented him for fancying Ginny, but he was more concerned she'd get over him and find someone better.

                "What did you tell them," she asked suspiciously, "about last night?"

                "Absolutely nothing," he told her truthfully. He hadn't chatted with his so-called 'friends' since returning to school this year. He had a suspicion himself that his father had made a deal of some kind with their fathers, the outcome of which could potential hurt him for going out with a Weasley. 

                They were standing just a meter from the entrance when Ginny threw her cloak down and outstretched her arms crying, "Take me!"

                "What?" he asked puzzled.

                "Take me!" she offered herself to him. "No one's here to stop you. Everyone thinks you already have, so go ahead. I'm here—" Tears brimmed in eyes, but she blinked them back.

                Draco, on the other hand, was still in shock at the notion. Half of him wanted to do what she said, hell, she was offering herself to him and there wasn't a soul around to stop him. The other half of him saw the girl with tears in her eyes, humiliated that other people had called her names and said that Draco had taken her honour from her. He was torn between the two ideas, but finally made his choice.

                He grabbed her forcefully by the shoulders and pinned her to the wall, kissing her roughly. Ginny, frightened that he'd perform exactly what she had so openly suggested, squirmed in his grasp. He broke away, still holding her against the wall. "I would never do that to you, Ginny."

                "You scared me, Draco," she exhaled.

                He realized the powerful grip he had on her and released. "I'm sorry… I didn't know what else to do." He saw the fear hadn't left her eyes and it stung his heart.

                "Did you-last night when I- Did you sleep with someone else instead?" she questioned in a wavering voice.

                "No," he told her directly. "Why would you think that?"

                "I heard some other Slytherins talking about us before the game, that's all. Pansy claimed you told her we had broken up and you were with her now."

                "Bunch of lies, that is! Pansy's a stuck-up bitch! No way in hell I'd ever get back with her!" Draco adamantly replied. "You know she's just jealous of you!"

                She could hear the tone of worry in his voice, worry that she might reject him for this. She didn't have evidence other than some other Slytherins' words and what were they to her? If he was her boyfriend, there had to be a level of trust and she needed to believe him unless _proven_ otherwise. She took him into a hug and pressed her body close to his. "I believe you."

The reply Dumbledore received from the American Witchcraft Association was that Laura should be brought to Salem, Massachusetts to be lodged and guarded by their school of witchcraft. 

                Dumbledore disagreed. He felt that if she were brought to Salem, all the wizarding families in the area would know her and somehow her father would find out. It just wasn't safe. He had to come up with another idea and fast.


	9. Getting Dates

A/N: Warning, I earn my rating in this chapter. There's some violence and a little f/f, which I wrote for my guy friends (hehe, ur welcome hehe)… SO, please don't kill me!!  
  
Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room looking through _Standard Book of Spells Grade 7_ trying to find a vision-correction spell. He was sick of wearing his glasses and having Hermione fix them every time they broke. Finally he found a safe-looking spell and wondered if the effects would be permanent. Crossing the fingers of his left hand, he raised his wand, reciting the memorized lines of text to correct his vision. 

When he opened his eyes, he was disappointed to find his eyes had in fact worsened. He blinked a few times, hoping it would help, but as his hands went to his face, he removed his glasses and the distorted vision faded into perfect vision. He blinked joyfully, a large grin spreading across his face. "WAHOO!" he cheered. 

Neville and his girlfriend Natalie McDonald, a fourth-year Gryffindor, bounced over to him. "What is it?" she gleamed. 

"My eyes! I can see without glasses now!" 

"That's wicked Harry! How'd you find that spell?" Neville responded. 

"Took forever! But it was definitely worth the wait! Wait 'til the Quidditch lot hears about this! It's got to improve my game…" He went on and on rambling excitedly as the three of them ran down the stairs. 

"Sure it'll improve your game, but it'll improve your chances with girls too," Natalie grinned.

All three of them laughed as they entered the Great Hall. 

"You should ask her to the ball, Harry!" Neville suggested.

"Who?" Harry wondered.

"You know who I'm talking about- Kelly Andersson." Neville smiled knowingly.

"She's probably already got a date," Harry responded as they sat down.

"Well, she's been asked a hundred times," Natalie informed them, "but I'm sure she's turned them down." 

"Why do you say that?" Harry questioned.

"Because the one guy she wants hasn't asked her yet." Neville said, referring to Harry. 

"You think she'd want to go with me?" Harry didn't believe it.

"Well, I don't think she's been staring at _me_ for the last half hour," Neville said with a smirk. 

Harry laughed. Sure, he had more courage than prior years… And he had Harry Potter fans following him around with Colin and his camera… and his ego—not that it was a _huge_ ego—was still intact. It wouldn't hurt to ask her, especially if he was Turned-Down-Lad 3002… 

They finished up lunch and headed for Defence Against the Dark Arts. Their new teacher for the year, Professor Wen, dressed all in black, like Snape, but with well-groomed instead of greasy hair, which was long, but tied back in an orderly fashion.

Since Kelly had no chance of Ron asking her to the ball, she set her sights for Harry. During Defence Against the Dark Arts, she often made eyes at him, hoping he'd notice her, but she didn't know that he already noticed her. She barely took notes the whole class period, but scrawled: KA + HP, among other things on her parchment.

Seamus and Dean started packing their things up when it was nearly time to go.

"I haven't dismissed you yet!" Wen wrapped his pointing stick on the desk and the sound echoed throughout the room. "Copy down the aspects of dinosaurs from the board before you leave. I'll be around to check."

After class, the fifth-year Hufflepuff Wayne Zalemin nervously approached Kelly to ask her to the dance, but lost his nerve and ran away. She giggled with Padma as he scurried off.

After the lovely vision-correction spell and Neville's encouragement, Harry approached Quidditch Captain Kelly Andersson in order to beg her to go to the ball with him. Correction- he was going to _ask_ her if she'd like to go with him. 

He caught up to her as she exited the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom with Padma and Lavender. "Erm- hey Kelly… May I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure," was her giddy response. She gleamed over at Lavender and Padma before turning back to Harry, "Wasn't today's lecture absolutely mind-numbing?" the intelligent Ravenclaw complained. "As if we really care that dinosaurs are the ancestors of modern-day birds!"

"I know!" Harry agreed. "I can understand needing to learn a good reflector spell…but anyway, I wanted to ask you who you're going to the Christmas Ball with. I know you probably already have a date—"

"I don't, actually," she replied, somewhat self-consciously. "No one's really asked me."

"Would you like to go with me?" Harry offered heroically.

"Sure, Harry. That'd be great."

"Great." Harry was glad she didn't turn him down, but figured she probably exaggerated when she said that no one had asked her. "Well, I've Charms to get to…so…" he mumbled

"Yeah, I've Advanced Arithmancy…" she also mumbled, not moving.

"See you later," he excused himself and headed for class.

"See you." She skipped down the hallway after Padma perfectly beaming.

That night, Hermione was studying in the Gryffindor common room with Harry when she burst out randomly, "Kelly's one of those girls who can get any guy she wants. I don't understand why she'd want to break us up!" 

"Huh?" Harry blinked, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Well Lavender was telling me how Kelly fancied Ron and she's so pretty and I—"

Harry assured her, "I really don't think there's anything to worry about Hermione. Besides, she's already got a date for the ball anyway." 

"Who?" Hermione wondered. 

"Me," Harry said smiling. 

Hermione was flabbergasted. "Really?"

Harry nodded. He told her about how he asked her after Defence Against the Dark Arts and then went on to tell her, "We talked after supper for awhile…in the study room. She told me she found me attractive and nice. That's it. Simple."

Harry kept going on about her. "She said she was concerned that I wouldn't like her because of my old girlfriend, Cho. She thought I only fancied Asian girls, but I assured her that I definitely fancy her now. I think she's great! Quidditch Captain, Head Girl, tall, blonde, great body…"

"OK, enough…" Hermione didn't want to hear it, but she was glad he was happy. At least he wouldn't be thinking about his ex-girlfriend anymore. "I'm glad you have a date."

"Thanks," he said, smiling broadly. 

The week before the Christmas Ball, Malfoy seemed more on edge than usual. Everyone in his house recognized the symptoms of a bloke in angst. When the Weasley girl wasn't around, Malfoy was more often than not in a bad mood. And it didn't help that everyone who had the guts to do so, taunted him about how he wasn't getting any.

Draco understood and supported Ginny's decision to wait and it made him respect and admire her all the more. He already knew he wasn't worthy of a chaste girl like her. She was untarnished…a guiltless beauty who deserved better. Of course he didn't believe that Potter was better than him, but someone else…someone who wasn't contaminated with the evilness of Voldemort. 

He focused on his coursework and Quidditch practice. He didn't give a damn what the other Slytherins thought of him and he didn't care that his marks had slipped a little bit. He didn't care that his parents were pissed off that he and Ginny were still together. He was considering applying to work for the Ministry after graduation, hoping that after Hogwarts everything would be easier for the two of them, if she still fancied him. Why had Ginny actually started fancying him of all people?

As the corrupted person he was, Draco's unconscious thoughts of Ginny's 'good girl' image were twisted, where she was manipulated into doing sick and unimaginable things. Sometimes his father would be there in his head, telling him to take advantage of her…to use her affections. 

When awake and in her presence, he felt guilty about those mental images even though he wasn't in control of them. He felt wasn't worthy to kiss her, let alone make love to her. At the same time, those desires warred within him. He was impatient and reckless in Quidditch practice. His frustration just increased as the days before the Christmas Ball drew closer. 

"All right, check this out; see if I'm doing it right." Isabella was concentrating on a block of cheese attempting to levitate it.

"Erm- I think this is a little too advanced for you," Laura said, trying to hold back laughter. 

The two of them tired of levitation techniques and decided to take a stroll off school grounds. After picking up something to eat, they saw some strange people wearing wedged hats on their heads. "Why are those people wearing cheese on their heads?"

"Oh that? It's for the football game," Isabella informed her.

"Football? It's popular here?" Laura asked. "I love a good game of football."

"Not soccer…it's American football…"

"I don't understand… There's a difference?"

"Umm…yeah!" Isabella remarked like Laura should know. "What planet are you from?"

The pair wandered into Isabella's favourite store which happened to be a 'magic' store owned by a sweet-looking old woman. Isabella went through various premixed 'potions' that would "make the one you love swoon" and anti-acne face scrubs. Laura went straight over to the packaged herbs, picking up a few vials to examine. She still wasn't used to paying with dollars. 

"These shouldn't be sorted next to each other," Laura stated aloud, not really meaning anyone to hear her. She separated and rearranged the bottles.

The old lady shuffled over to her. "Oh my, I can't believe it. One of my earlier customers completely bought me out of wormwood, so I must have put that in by mistake." She bustled around trying to find a replacement label. "I'm surprised you caught that, dear. How'd you learn so much about herbing?" 

Laura was at a loss of what to say. "I–erm–I learned from my aunts."

"Wow," the old lady gasped. "Isabella learned many things from her aunts. Did she tell you? She's such a nice girl. I'm glad you too have become friends." She gushed all over Laura. 

Laura bought a few vials of various concentration herbs along with some lavender. She looked for her friend who was chatting up with a commonplace fellow in the back of the shop. "I'll meet you in the book shop, all right Bell?"

"Yeah," she said, barely caring. "See ya." 

Later when Isabella entered the book shop, Laura was done looking and they went to get some ice cream at Dairy Queen. "So do you have a boyfriend back in England?" she asked, slurping her cookies and cream ice cream.

"I did…We're erm, separated now, seeing as how I'm in America and he's not…"

"I see," Isabella smiled, "well, give the 4-11!"

"What?" She didn't understand the American jargon.

"Tell me all about him. I wanna know."

She described his physical appearance, personality, and how he played on the football team at her old school. She told him basically how she broke up with him since she was expelled, but wrote him a letter. "But he never wrote me back. I miss him like crazy."

"But he's your ex..."

"Well shut up!" Laura exclaimed. "I still really care for him." 

"Maybe you'll see him again." 

"Not likely. They'll never let me back at school." She thought about her magical abilities, comforted that she wasn't a squib, but angry that she'd never be trained to use what talent she _did _have. Not like it was her fault. She had a lot of things on her mind, but at least in America she was away from all the pressure and away from her father. 

It wasn't until later that night that she realized she had left her book-bag at the bookshop. Her homework was in there and it was due tomorrow! By the time she got there, the store was closed. "No!" She banged on the door. "Blast!"

She turned around, leaned her back against the door, sighing. "What am I going to do?" 

Without warning, the man from the 'magic' shop swooped next to her. "Having a problem?" he asked in a suave voice. 

"No, I was just leaving…"

He blocked her path. "Yes, you are…" He reached under his cloak and pulled out his wand. "You're going home." He smiled wickedly, raising his wand in front of Laura.

Ginny's disheartenment from the endless insults amplified as the ball approached. Pansy Parkinson put some leeches in her stew and when Ginny found out, Pansy mocked, "You're sucking the life out of Malfoy!"

Most of the time the ridicule was subtler like tripping her in the hallways and stealing her coursework. In the back of her mind, were thoughts of examining the situation and assessing whether being with Draco was worth it or not. She was getting to the point where she was simply sick of all the harassment. She knew it'd probably get better when the Slytherins came up with something to tease another person about, but that they'd never cease mentioning the pair without derision. 

"You're poor, Weasley! You're not good enough for him!"

"What does he see in you? You're pathetic."

"As soon as he has his way with you, he'll dump you like a piece of rubbish!"

Next year, Draco wouldn't be with her at school anymore and she had a feeling she'd be the sole target of their abuse. It wouldn't be fair that he could escape the torments. At the same time, she felt that if they were still together once she graduated, all of that would stop.

The doubts in the back of her head didn't surface when he was around though. She didn't want to end their relationship over something as stupid as immature taunting. Sometimes they would be sitting together studying or doing coursework and they wouldn't talk at all. It was as if they both were aware that something was wrong, but neither of them spoke up about it.

The night before the Christmas Ball, Pansy told her scheme to Zabini and he thought it was excellent. "Polyjuice…I've never heard of it. So it's supposed to transform Goyle into Malfoy?"

"Exactly!" Pansy smiled eagerly.

When Millicent found out her boyfriend was going to be turned into Draco for an hour or so, she was more than delighted. She was ecstatic. 

Millicent and Pansy linked arms with Crabbe after he turned into Malfoy and walked into the study room where they knew Ginny would be studying. The only other people in the room were Andersson and Zalemin. 

Ginny was hidden in a corner under a stack of books for Divination. In character, Crabbe laughed at the Hufflepuff fifth year. "What are you doing in here, Huffle-puss?!" Kelly got up from her seat, grabbing her books. As a Prefect, she wanted to stop his tormentors. "Is that the best you can come up with, peroxide-head? Leave him alone!" 

Ginny looked up when she heard Kelly say 'peroxide-head', but the voice didn't sound like her boyfriend. She saw that it was in fact her boyfriend who was with Bulstrode and Parkinson.

Crabbe just chuckled and went to sit down on a table facing the two girls who were acting like tarts.

Kelly left because she didn't want to be late for the Prefect meeting.

"I thought you had a Prefect meeting." Pansy played with his collar, loosening his tie.

"Yeah, but I think I'm coming down with something," he broke off faking a cough. "I don't think I can make it…" 

The girls giggled flirtingly. Millicent whispered in his ear.

Ginny was about to go over to him when Crabbe said to the two girls, "You only get me if I get to see you two snog." They obliged him. 

Ginny was horrified and the Hufflepuff boy perked up, staring at the two girls.

After the girls were finished, he pulls them out of the room towards Slytherin Tower. 

A distressed Ginny stood up, with tears streaming down her face. She left her belongings in the common room, not caring. 

Once the three Slytherins entered the common rooming, they laughed at Ginny's expression even though they couldn't see it. "Oh no, not my poor baby Draco!" Pansy sighed dramatically. 

"I can't believe he would cheat on me like that!" Crabbe said in a falsetto as he pretended to faint on the coach.

The girls laughed. 

Millicent wondered, "Is there, perhaps, a swig left of the polyjuice potion?"

Pansy looked for the glass. "Why yes there is!" 

Millicent swiped it from her hand. She wouldn't mind her boyfriend looking like Draco a little longer, so before the potion wore off, she approached him with the potion.

"You'd really fancy a go with a bloody toff like him? After all he—" 

Before he could say another word, she forced the leftover potion down his throat and snogged him. She swallowed a bit of the potion as well, causing her hair to lighten, but neither of them noticed. 

Laura backed away from the cloaked man who had his wand pointed at her. "Who are you?!" she demanded.

"I work for your father," the Death Eater responded. 

"My father? You don't know who I am! How could you know my father?!"

"Let's just say the 'nice old lady' in the magic shop works for Voldemort. And your American friend is easily persuaded by a friendly traveller."

She gasped. 

"You'll come with me now. Your father's expecting you." He sprung on her and tightened his grip around her.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed, hoping someone would jump to her rescue. She bit his arm in a desperate attempt for him to loosen his grip. "LET ME GO!!" She kicked her feet in midair.

"You'll go all right, back where you belong!" He knocked her unconscious with his heavy fist.

A/N: There, hope you weren't turned off!! Next up is the Christmas Ball aka The Big Ass chapter! (It's about 3,000 words right now!! Ahhh!! Run away!!) Let's just say a lot, a lot of things happen in the next chapter…some things you won't believe and some things are just silly!

OK, how about before you run away, review?? ::bats her eyes, innocently::


	10. The Christmas Ball

A/N: Yes, there's trouble, trouble, trouble! Trouble right here at Hogwarts! With a capital 'T' that rhymes with 'B' that stands for Ball! (That stands for Ball!) ::bows to the thunderous applause for my rendition of the Music Man::  
  
Natalie McDonald was one of the last people to arrive at the ball, but everyone's eyes were on her when she entered. Lavender had given her a makeover. Her hair was half up in a bun and the rest down in curls. She wore a pale pink dress that matched the pink blush on her cheeks. Neville was gobsmacked. "Natalie!" He ran up and gave the fourth-yeah Gryffindor a big hug. 

                Hermione smiled at the pair. Natalie was a bit pudgy, but one of the sweetest girls in the school. She looked like a princess.

                Ginny hadn't had a chance to talk to Draco about the previous night and it wasn't as if she'd have been able to find another date, so she came with him to the dance anyway. Draco didn't have a clue as to why she was in a cross mood, but shrugged it off as a 'girl thing'. 

                One of the Creevey boys approached Natalie asking her to dance with them, but she said, "No, I'm with Neville." She grinned, pulling her boyfriend onto the dance floor.

                After about an hour, it was announced that there was a dance off. "Everyone find a partner," Dumbledore announced, "Let the competition begin!" he clapped his hands together twice and swing music started playing. 

                Ron, who was completely inept at dancing normally, had actually learned a few moves since the previous year. Hermione was shocked when he took her by the hand, swung her away and back to him even closer. "Where'd you learn?" she gasped.

                "I have my sources…" he grinned, pulling her closer.

                Kelly stood up from her chair and grabbed Harry's hand saying, "Come on!"

                "I-I'm not that-I don't know how to-" Harry stuttered.

                "That's all right!" she said gleaming. "The girls have to do most of the work anyway. I'll show you." She spun under his arm, swinging back and then wound up with his arm around her middle. 

                Most of the time they were in close-contact like a slow-dance even though the music was fast-paced. Harry didn't mind it at all. He even let her teach him a few steps.

                Lavender chose not to join in, but eventually Dean persuaded her onto the dance floor. Meanwhile, Ginny's best friend Janet sat at a table with some other Hufflepuff girls who didn't have dates. Dennis Creevey came over to ask if she'd like to dance, but she turned him down.

                Siena and Seamus started doing a dance that would have gone better to Rap music and no one had a clue what they were doing. "It's called the sea-walk foo!" she exclaimed to a frightened fourth-year Hufflepuff. "You don't _know_ me!"

                Seamus laughed, "This is great! Did you learn this over the summer?"

                "That I did," she said in her natural Irish brogue, "Glad you approve."

                Draco and Ginny were participating, but not swing-dancing since neither of them knew how. They slow-danced to the fast music even though Ginny was angry with him. She even allowed him to kiss her. 

                "Break it up you two," McGonagall said to the pair, visibly surprised that Ginny Weasley was in Malfoy's arms. She didn't think it was appropriate for them to be kissing at a school-sanctioned event.

                Natalie and Neville were doing their best imitation of swing-dancing and Natalie tried following Kelly's moves. 

                After a few songs, the winners were announced. "Congratulations to our dance-off champions, Natalie McDonald and Neville Longbottom!"

                Neville was in shock, "Me?"

                "Yes you, silly!" Natalie beamed. The two of them went up to the platform and received the award which was vouchers for Honeydukes. 

                Everyone except Slytherins clapped for the cute couple before the music resumed.

                After a song, Ginny was going to get something to drink when Draco said, "Thirsty, love?" She nodded sullenly. "Allow me." He suavely went to get them some pumpkin juice from a table set up for the students.

                On Draco's way back over to Ginny, Pansy's arm went around Draco's back. She said in a loud enough voice for Ginny and a few other people near them to hear, "You were great last night, thanks sweetie."

                "Sod off!" He pushed her away from him.

                Ginny was wide-eyed with astonishment.

                "Stupid bint-don't know what she was thinking-" Draco was muttering to Ginny. He handed her the drink saying, "Here you go, sugar."

                She clasped the cup tightly saying, "Is that how you treat all the girls you sleep with? Just shove them off the next day?!" She tossed the drink at him and stormed off with tears surging from her eyes.

                Draco was confused. "What the hell?" He stood in shock, soaking wet.

                Pansy slid back to her Slytherin cohorts, all of them laughing at Ginny's display. 

                Hermione only caught that Ginny was yelling and saw her toss her drink in Malfoy's face. Without telling anyone, she went after Ginny.

                Ron was over at an hors d'oeuvres table noshing up on some finger sandwiches when he saw Malfoy get a drink thrown at him. He didn't see who it was, but he found it hilarious that Malfoy was mortified. "Did you see that?" Ron asked the nearest person, who happened to be Kelly Andersson. "Malfoy's got himself all wet!"

                Laughing, Kelly helped herself to an hors d'oeuvre, but the laughing turned to coughing and the coughing became choking.

"Ginny! What happened?" Hermione asked her once she caught up to her in the hallway. 

                "Draco-he- he cheated on me! I saw him last night with Pansy and Millicent-and then Pansy gloats about how he slept with her last night-and— And I think it's been going on all along!" Her tears gushed forth and she wept in Hermione's arms. Hermione had never witnessed Ginny show such emotion before that it was scary.

                Draco finally pulled himself out of shock and went after Ginny. He approached the sobbing girl carefully. "I don't get it," he said simply. "What did I do wrong? She told me she was thirsty!"

                Hermione stared angrily at him. "What do you think you hateful, slimy, good-for-nothing son of a Death Eater! How could you do this to her?!"

                "Do what?!" He was yelling now too.

                "Leave me alone Draco!" Ginny sobbed.

                "You cheated on her with Pansy and Millicent the night before the ball!" Hermione screamed at him.

                "I did _what_?!" Draco's jaw dropped open. 

                "So you're going to deny it now too! That's just great!" Hermione scoffed.

                Ginny picked up her head and looked at him; still holding onto Hermione for support. 

                "I did no such thing! What the bloody hell is wrong with you?! I didn't do ANYTHING!" 

                Ginny was even more upset than before because he wasn't even apologizing. "Don't lie to me!"

                "I'm NOT!" he retorted, approaching her. "I was at a Prefect meeting last night!"

                "Stay away from her Malfoy!" Hermione commanded.

                "Just go, Hermione," Ginny said with tears rolling down her cheeks. "This is between him and me."

                "I don't want him to hurt you," Hermione told her.

                "You should be more afraid of what I'd do to him!"

                Hermione wasn't sure about leaving, so she only backed a step away from them. "I think I'll stay."

                "Get out of here MUDBLOOD! This doesn't concern you!" Draco seethed.

                If only Hermione had her wand on her; she would have cursed him then, but she didn't. She looked back at Ginny who nodded in a way that told her she should leave them alone. Once Hermione left, both of them had calmed down a bit even though they were still breathing hard. 

                "I didn't do what you said I did," he told her honestly.

                "How can I believe you after this…this PROOF, right in front of me? I saw you last night too."

                "I was at a PREFECT MEETING! Ask Granger! She was there! Your brother was there! They can vouch for me!"

                "Don't give me that bullshit, Draco! I SAW YOU with Millicent and Pansy-and how you made them- and I- I saw you lot walk back to Slytherin Tower together—"

                "I was NEVER WITH THEM last night! Why don't you believe me?!"

                Ginny was so disappointed in Draco. If he would have just admitted to his mistakes, admitted to cheating on her, it would take some time, but she probably would end up forgiving him. But he hadn't. He hadn't accepted responsibility for it like he had accepted responsibility for everything last year. Why would he deny something like this? Her parents were right all along. She was a Weasley. He was a Malfoy. They were never meant to be together. _"…don't come crying to us,"_ she heard her father say. Ginny shook her head. "It's over Draco."

                "What?" He couldn't comprehend what she was saying.

                She was fooling herself this whole time! Come to think of it, he had never said he loved her. She had proven her love for him countless times, but she was reciprocated only with physical displays of affection. She was so angry with him now. It would be a long time before she would be able to look at him again. "We're through."

                "No." He went to touch her arm. She moved away from him. His voice choked on the question, "Why?" as tears welled in his eyes. "Ginny…" He could barely breathe as she walked away from him. He couldn't put a name to the emotion he was feeling, but his chest hurt and he found it difficult to breathe let alone form a coherent thought. 

                Draco went from distraught and heartbroken to angry at the world. He hated Granger for adding to Ginny's argument and not backing him up. He hated Ron Weasley for being such a protective git. He hated Potter for not fancying Ginny so he would have never fallen for her. He hated his parents and her parents for not approving of them. He hated everyone in Slytherin who had conspired against him. It all fell together now: That Pansy bitch and Millicent must have been behind this; breaking them up!

Meanwhile Ron had his arms around Kelly trying to dislodge the appetizer. Finally she spit it out. "I didn't know it was fish! I hate fish so much!" She was overjoyed that Ron rescued her. "You saved my life!" she exclaimed, turning around in his arms and hugging him. She kissed him on the lips quickly to thank him just as Hermione came back into the room.

                In that spilt second, Hermione saw her boyfriend's arms around Andersson and saw her lips on his. She was paralysed in horror. 

                Ron pushed Kelly away and his eyes fell on Hermione. 

                Hermione walked directly back where she came from, away from Ron and Kelly. 

                Draco came back to the ball and hurled the closest chair across the room. It crashed into a table set up with refreshments. If only he had his wand with him…he'd _Avada__ Kedavra _the whole lot of 'em! Those so-called 'friends'… He wondered if his own parents hadn't paid them off. 

                Before Draco could do much damage, Snape interfered and ushered him out of the Great Hall.

                Harry hadn't seen his date choke, but he too saw her kissing Ron. He approached her. "What was that?"

                Kelly explained how Ron saved her life. It really appeared to be an innocent kiss. "I meant to get him on the cheek, but he turned his head."

                "It's OK. No harm done," he said. He didn't know yet that Hermione had witnessed the whole thing. "Would you like to dance?"

                She smiled at Harry and nodded. 

                Ron was confused by the kiss and upset that Hermione had seen. He hadn't done anything besides save Kelly from choking. He ran after Hermione as soon as he cleared his mind as to what exactly had happened. 

                Siena and Seamus danced next to the pair. Siena remarked about Kelly's hair, "That's totally Asian!"

                Kelly wore her long hair up in a twist held together by chopsticks. She hoped that Harry would like the Asian aspect to her attire and had practiced eating with chopsticks the night before, so if she felt like it, she could take them out of her hair and use them as silverware. 

                "I really like your hair," Harry commented as they slow-danced.

                "Thanks," she said, glad that he had noticed.

Ron was desperately trying to explain the situation, but Hermione didn't want to hear it. She believed that Kelly had faked choking in order to get her hands on Ron. "Why are you so jealous? Don't you trust me?" 

                "And you know what makes this worse?" Hermione continued without even listening to Ron. "I thought it was Lavender because you two always come back together so late, but you've been with Kelly the whole time." 

                It was true. "I was getting help from Kelly in Potions," he explained. "Ask Lavender. I was too embarrassed to admit it before. I'm sorry." 

                She believed him without needing to ask Lavender. "But why didn't you ask me to help you?" 

                Ron blushed a bit. "Because I knew if I had asked you to tutor me, we wouldn't get much studying done." 

                He had a point and he was so cute about it, but for some reason, it didn't click with Hermione. She didn't accept it or his plea for reconciliation. "I don't know…"

                "I haven't cheated on you if that's what you're thinking." He didn't think he did anything wrong. 

                "You didn't tell me the truth."

                "Well I am now, doesn't that count for something? Come on, Hermione! If I would have told you I was getting help from a cute Ravenclaw girl, you'd have bit my head off!" She really ought to be mad at Kelly, not him!

"She's cute now, is she?" she retorted.

                "You know what I mean!" he contended.

                "Well it's the principle of the thing!" Hermione insisted. "You should have told me. You should have been honest with me!" 

                "You should be able to trust me!" He felt cut that she didn't trust him. 

                "You haven't been honest with me!" She was offended that he hadn't told her to begin with. 

                "This is so immature, Hermione!"

                "What is?"

                "This. This fight… Why do you always act like you're the only one in the universe? You think everything has to do with you, but that's not true. Maybe I was at fault because I didn't tell you ahead of time, but it's immature of you to assume something is going on when there's nothing."

                "You weren't able to trust me enough to tell me!"

                "Fine, just lay the blame on me…"

                "Fine! I will!" she said with conviction.

                He shook his head. "You're so stubborn!"

                "So are you!" She didn't want to talk to him anymore so she started walking away.

                "Is that it then?" he wondered.

                Turning to face him she asked, "What more is there to say, Ron? Hmm?"

                He had already apologized, what more could she want? "I guess…nothing."

                She took a breath. "Nothing." She turned away again and walked away.

                He thought she was such a stubborn woman. She would never admit it when she was wrong. He didn't know if she had broken up with him officially or not, but he wasn't about to run after her to have her yell at him again. "Fine," he said to the empty hallway. He surmised they had indeed broken up.

Laura blinked her eyes back into consciousness. She _had_ to be dreaming! When she awoke, she found herself in Dumbledore's office surrounded by pictures of ancient wizards and witches. "Awake at last," Madame Pomfrey observed.

                "Thank you, Poppy," Dumbledore said graciously.

                "What am I doing here? Am I dreaming?" Laura sat up slowly.

                "Not a dream, Laura," Dumbledore said, smiling. "Your belongings have been moved back into your old dormitory. We can talk more of this tomorrow."

                "What? No, I want to know now. What happened to me?"

                "The Ministry and I have been watching your situation carefully and once the Dark Mark appeared in the sky close to the school you were boarding at, the Ministry finally agreed with me that sending you to Salem would not be the best option. They didn't want an entire town to be wiped out just to get to you, so a few Aurors were sent to rescue you and here you are."

                Laura blinked a few times, still not believing what she was hearing. "But that man- the one who captured me… Where is he?"

                "He flew in fear of the Aurors revealing his identity."

                "He told me he worked for my father."

                Dumbledore's eyes widened from behind his half-moon glasses. He hoped that his decision hadn't made it worse. He figured the best thing to do was bring her back to Hogwarts so he could keep her safer. He hadn't realized until then that Laura's father may be not merely a Death Eater, but a leader of an even darker, unmentionable group. "The price on your head is bigger than I expected."

A/N: I didn't want to get into Dumbledore versus Death Eaters or Dumbledore's ways of getting information because some mysteries are left to the imagination. Let's just say, Dumbledore has connections on both sides of this war and not all is secure—for example, the letters between Dumbledore and the American Witchcraft Association had been intercepted by people working for Laura's father, that's how they found out of her whereabouts, that's why he was so concerned that he _had_ to let her come back to Hogwarts. Hogwarts is the safest place!  
side note-DAMN 3,000 words!!!


	11. Look Don't Touch

With all going on with the Christmas Ball, the Slytherins who recognized Laura from last year didn't give her a second glance. Only Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape were aware of her return to Hogwarts. Dumbledore told McGonagall only what she needed to know of Laura's situation, but he privately told Snape everything because he was head of Slytherin House. 

                Soon classes would be starting up again and Laura was being interrogated by Dumbledore in his office. "Last year when we talked, I had you expelled for conceiving of and nearly carrying out the murder of a fellow student."

                Laura opened her mouth to speak, but he silenced her.

                "I know it wasn't entirely your fault and that your father was behind most of it, but I need your assurances that you will not try something similar this year or else you'll spend the year in _Azkaban_ instead." Dumbledore tone was insistent, but not harsh.

                She nodded, unable to speak.

                He walked across the office and removed her old wand from a case. "Now that you're officially back, you will need this." He handed her the wand. "Since you weren't allowed to take the fifth-year finals, you will be writing essays to display your knowledge in each subject. If the professors find your essays sufficient, you will receive fifth-year credits and be able to attend sixth-year classes."

                "Thank you, sir."

                "You have much catching up to do, but you have the rest of the holiday to finish the essays and I'm confident you will have them complete before classes start."

                She nodded and thanked him again before she got up to leave. Walking down the hallway, she took out her wand and chucked it in the first waste receptacle she ran across. He had returned her defective wand. Laura was thankful that Dumbledore allowed to return, for his protection of her, and to be away from muggles. At the same time, she was a sixteen-year-old that missed out on a Christmas Ball and a holiday break. She hoped that she'd run across Harry even though she'd be in Dumbledore's office or the library for the rest of the holiday…

"I really had a great time, Harry," Kelly said as they neared Ravenclaw Tower.

                "Me too. We should do something together…sometime…" Harry couldn't believe that at seventeen he still had a hard time asking girls out.                

                She smiled. "That'd be nice. Maybe, since we're on holiday we could go to Hogsmeade or something?" 

                "Yeah, that'd be great." He stood there gaping, not knowing what to say and not wanting to leave.

                "All right…well…" she said in a slightly disappointed voice.

                "Well…goodnight…" he said quickly. 

                "Goodnight." She walked towards the portrait hole, but just before saying the password, she turned back around. He had already started walking back down the staircase. "Erm- Harry?"

                "Yeah?" he asked in a hopeful tone.

                She shyly said, "Thanks for walking me back…"

                "You're welcome," he automatically replied. 

                Before her nerves got the better of her, she went over to where he stood on the top of the staircase and leaned towards him. Their lips met briefly and once they parted she breathed, "Goodnight."

                "'Night," he sighed.

                "Night," she said once again as she went back to the portrait hole.

                He laughed to himself as he skipped down the staircase at how they had said goodnight what seemed like 300 times. He was still riding the high of a first kiss with a girl he fancied as he approached the Fat Lady. "I'm going scatty," he mumbled to himself. All grins, he entered the common room to find Hermione sitting with her arms crossed, cheeks red, and eyes puffy like she had been crying. Honestly, Harry didn't want to know what was wrong with her. It wasn't that he wasn't a good friend, it was just that he was in such a good mood, he didn't want to be brought down. He also didn't want to get involved if it had o do with her and Ron. He walked past her without the notion of stopping, but she spotted him. 

                "Harry?" she blubbered. 

                He turned around on the second step, but didn't budge. 

                She ran over to him, throwing her arms around him, crying. She rambled incoherently. The only words he could make out were Ron's name and 'he'. 

                Once she calmed down a bit, he sat her in front of him and asked her, "Could you explain it to me once more, only slower this time around so I can understand?"

                She nodded. 

                This time around he still couldn't understand half of what she was saying, but he got the gist of it. 

                Hermione wasn't thinking about Ginny and Malfoy at all and failed to mention it in her recollection of the night's events because breaking up with Ron overshadowed everything else.

                "Well Hermione, coming from a boy's perspective, I'd have to say Ron's all right." Harry wasn't concerned about their fight or their supposed break-up because he was used to their fighting. It didn't faze him at all. He knew even with the display at the dance that he and Kelly were probably going to date each other. "He'd never cheat on you, you know? Ron's crazy about you! But it's not against the law for him to look at other girls. It's OK to look."

                "Well then I guess it's OK for me to look too!"

                "That's different." Harry grinned.

                How so? I'm a warm-blooded girl who's entitled to look at other guys!"

                "It's fine, I suppose, but Ron would beat them up and accuse them of looking at you. And you know perfectly well why." He stared intently into her eyes. "Because he loves you."

                "Not anymore…" Hermione sadly replied. She was completely exhausted from all the emotions and crying. She barely made it to her room without tripping.

                Harry watched her go and decided to peek in Ron's room to see how he was fairing after the break-up. After all, it was only fair. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Luckily Ron hadn't locked the door, so Harry pushed it open. He walked in and saw Ron lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. "Hey Ron, just wanted to see if you're all right…" 

                "I'm fine" he said, not moving.

                "Nothing you want to talk about?"

                "No."

                "All right…" He left, closing the door behind him and went to his own room. He didn't' realize until then how late it was, but he remembered the kiss. He found it hard to fall asleep because he was so happy. 

After being sent back to Slytherin Tower by Snape, Draco went to his room and slammed the door. Even though he had gotten used to having his own room after being named a Prefect the year before, he wasn't as thankful for it as he was now. He got a roll of parchment and scrawled a letter to his parents, oozing with sarcasm. 

                _"You can be happy now. I'm not dating Ginny Weasley anymore. Just thought you'd like to know…"_

                He heard voices of other Slytherins filtering in to the common room. He didn't want to face them, but he was so angry. He wanted to send the letter off to his parents, so he exited his room anyway. Most of the seventh-years that were there approached him in a friendly way. "Join us for a drink at Hogsmeade?"

                "Want to play a game of exploding snap?"

                "I've got some extra marmalade tarts here, would you like one?"

                Draco hissed at them to sod off as he passed, heading straight for the Owlry. After sending off his owl, he almost immediately received a response. 

                _"Always knew that Weasley girl was a tart!"_ his mother's handwriting read. _"…so many other girls better for you with richer parents…"_ The letter went on to praise him for his grades and Quidditch stats. He crumpled their letter to him and discarded it. Straightening his cloak, he left the Owlry and stalked the corridors on Prefect duty.

                Laura was heading back to Slytherin Tower for the night and passed Draco in a hallway. Not many people knew about her return since it hadn't been officially announced and he was genuinely shocked to see her. They stuttered their 'hello's' at the same time, pausing a moment before passing each other quickly. At the same instant, they turned back. Their eyes met briefly before they resumed walking in opposite directions.             

                Meeting Laura like this was so strange to him. Why had she looked at him like that? He rationalized it as Laura having the ability to enter his mind to control him, but it wasn't true. He was just trying to convince himself of his dedication to Ginny still. But Ginny didn't believe he was innocent... He shook his head, trying to get Ginny off his mind. Ginny hated him now…and Laura was back… He had to remind himself that Laura was in love with that Saint Potter….


	12. What Do You Think?

Only a few days passed since the Christmas Ball and it was already January. Harry and Ron went to lunch together like any other day and just like every day since the Christmas Ball Hermione would sit next to Harry while Ron sat on the other side of him. "Hello Harry, Ron…" she acknowledged the pair. 

                "Hey Hermione, what's going on?" Harry asked like always.

                Ron sat there dejected as they chatted, not wanting to see her, not wanting to hear her voice, not wanting to hear her name. He wanted to pretend she didn't exist. Shoving food into his mouth, he heard people from both the Gryffindor table and the Ravenclaw table gossiping about who broke up with whom and who got together with whom as a result of the ball. In the past few days, loads of people, some of whom weren't even that close to Ron, had come up to him asking about Hermione or giving their condolences for their break-up. He focused on his food, thinking about Quidditch practice and the upcoming game. 

                Without much time passing between him arriving in the Great Hall and taking his first bite of food, someone asked him from across the table, "You OK there, Ron?" It was Siena who was sitting across from him next to Seamus who had asked him rather politely and surprisingly not in her ghetto accent.

                Now sick of people bothering him he blew up at Siena, "What do you think?!" 

                She opened and closed her mouth, but didn't say anything else. She looked at Seamus who shrugged. 

                Ron pushed his plate away and stood up, storming out of the Great Hall. He heard some bloke say to Harry, "You'd better go after him. He might try to kill himself or something."

                That comment made Ron even more depressed. It was bad enough that he couldn't look at Hermione and now people were making fun of him. He didn't want to talk about it and every time Harry asked, he was reminded of her. He was so preoccupied with him own unhappiness that he didn't hear about Ginny and Malfoy. 

                It wasn't until the following day that he saw Malfoy looking as sour and hostile as Ron felt that he found out the truth. Wasn't Malfoy going to tease him about Hermione as well? But to Ron's amazement, Malfoy stalked past him without so much as a glare. He was used to Ginny hanging on Malfoy's arm, even having his Slytherin cloak draped around her, but his sister was nowhere in sight. He spotted his sister with her Hufflepuff friend Janet walking down a stairway from Gryffindor Tower and caught up to her. 

                "Hey Ginny, just saw your boyfriend. He looked sad. You better go kiss him make it better," Ron said in a pouty voice laced with sarcasm. 

                Ginny grabbed Janet's arm as she informed her brother, "I broke up with him!"

                Ron's eyes widened. "Really?" he asked in a cheerful tone, hoping it was true. 

                "Yes really!" Ginny yelled at him. "He cheated on me! OK?!" She gripped Janet's arm tighter and pulled her down the stairs past Ron.

                "Sorry," Janet mumbled as she was shuffled by.

                "He cheated on you?!" he cheered, elated. "I'm going to sock that bloody bleeder until he can't feel it anymore!" he exclaimed gleefully.

                Ginny scowled at how happy Ron was and said to her friend as they walked, "I can't believe him!"

                Ron's feelings of depression vanished at the news of his sister and Malfoy. Hermione was the furthest thing from his mind. 

It was the evening after the first day of classes and Kelly Andersson wanted nothing better than take a nice relaxing shower. Already, she had an essay due and Arithmancy problems due! After he shower, she dressed and took out her wand. Standing in front of the mirror in her Head Girl room, she said an incantation and suddenly her hair was dried and styled. Saying another incantation, her makeup was on. She grinned at the mirror saying, "That's right!"

                Siena and Padma were flipping through some muggle magazines when Kelly walked out of her room and into the Ravenclaw common room. "Didn't you just go to take a shower?" Padma wondered.

                "I did," Kelly said matter-of-factly. "Can't you tell?" She walked past them. 

                "How does she do that?" Siena asked. "Craziness, that."

                Kelly decided to go see Ron. She figured he'd be in the study room near Gryffindor Tower and walked straight there. She found him sitting alone near where Lavender, Dean, Neville, and some younger Gryffindors sat studying. She sat across from him. "Hey, Ron."

                He looked up. "Oh…hi Kelly," he responded in an unenthusiastic voice.

                Dean, Neville, and the other Gryffindors looked up as Kelly spoke, wondering what would happen now that Ron and Hermione had broken up.

                "I was wondering if you still wanted me to tutor you in Potions…" she said without mentioning the obvious reasons why.

                "That's all right, but thanks for the offer," he said, resuming his course work.

                She didn't want to push him, but she also didn't want to look like a fool in front of all the Gryffindors as if they thought she was throwing herself at him. "I'm sorry about before—"

                "Look, it wasn't really anyone's fault and once Hermione realizes that, it'll all work out." His tone was resentful and she felt she didn't deserve that kind of treatment. He looked up at her again and felt bad that he had sounded mean. "Don't worry about it. How're things with you and Harry?" he asked, trying to change the subject so the focus was on her instead of him.

                She felt a blush creep onto her face as she said, "Good…" She still liked Ron a lot and wanted to remain friends with him. If she was Harry's girlfriend, she wouldn't come between Ron and Hermione…

Rumours flew around Slytherin Tower about Laura Marwood's absence from fall semester and sudden reappearance. Except a few first-year students, everyone had their own opinion about what had happened to her and why she was back now. Some thought she had gone off to some country and given birth to demon child, while others thought she had been incarcerated in Azkaban for stealing from Hogwarts. The more realistic version of her mysterious return were those closest to Draco or the Malfoy family that knew about their rivalling families. 

                Fourth-year Malcolm Baddock murmured to his friends, "I don't care who she tried to kill, she's Slytherin at its best!"

                "Better be careful what you say about her, she might be able to hear us!" Velvet Aramenty, a second-year, whispered. "I heard she lied about not having magical abilities!"

                "If she's not a squib, that makes her more dangerous. How could she charm Dumbledore into letting her back here?" Blayne Carlyle, a fourth-year wondered.

                "But it would make her more dangerous if she truly had no magical talent because that would mean she's got connections!" sixth year, Xavier Rookwood insisted. His father Augustus was a Death Eater. "If she paid off the governors to let her back or Imperious-cursed Dumbledore…who knows what she is capable of?!"

                "Best make sure we stay in her favour then," Rookwood's best friend Galen Rosier commented. Galen's parents were both Death Eaters.

                Only a few minutes passed before Laura walked into the common room. All of the students who had been talking about her looked up. The younger students appeared to be afraid of her, but the more narcissistic of the bunch didn't fail to greet her.

                "What do you have there?" Rookwood asked suavely as he approached her.

                "Books," she said simply. She wondered what he wanted.

                "Let me carry those for you," Rosier offered. 

                "I'm fine," Laura insisted. What the bloody hell was their motive.

                "Are you sure? Well, if you need us, you know where to find us."

                She wrinkled her nose at the two of them. 

                A few girls offered to do her coursework for her or give her a cheating spell for her quill, but she declined and sat finishing up a few Divination predictions. Why was everyone being nice to her all of a sudden? No one was close to being this nice to her last year. She wondered what had changed. Not that she minded the attention…


	13. Kissing Hermione

A/N: Quite the lucky chapter, eh? Number 13! You'll see why…  
  


Draco's parents were unbelievably enraged that Laura Marwood was allowed back to Hogwarts. They flooded the school governors with letters about how Marwood had nearly killed their son. They demanded to know why trash like her wasn't expelled still. They even begged Dumbledore to reconsider his decision, but they received nothing in return after all of their efforts. 

Now that it was official that Laura was a student at Hogwarts again, her father was undoubtedly informed of her situation. He owled Laura on more than one occasion saying he wanted to see her in person to discuss how she would continue her duty to avenge her mother's murder. She eventually stopped reading her mail.

Hermione appeared less affected by the break-up than Ron, but that was because she was good at pretending to be indifferent to things. She was glad that classes had resumed so she could focus on studying. Even though Kelly and Harry seemed to have something going on, rumours still spread that Hermione had dumped Ron for Harry. Some even went far enough to say that Harry was two-timing her for Kelly. It was strange, she thought, that people would even consider that, but then again, she remembered Rita Skeeter's articles about Harry and her. It didn't help that she sat on one side of Harry and Ron sat on the other without talking to her. Ron's refusal to talk to her got old fast.

                _"Well…she and Ron always fought. No wonder they broke up!"_

_                "She's better off with Harry anyway. I heard they went out when they were in fourth-year."_

_                "Yeah! You know she should be with Harry because—"_

_                "Because he's cute! And he's a powerful wizard!"_

                "Ron, don't be like this! This is stupid!" she called after him as he walked into his own room. She banged on his door. "Ron! Ron, open up! Seriously! You're acting so immature!" She banged a few more times, but he didn't open the door. "UGH! Fine! Don't talk to me then! I won't talk to you either!" She banged both of her fists on his door one last time before leaving to find her other best friend. 

                She found Harry in the library pouring over Charms coursework. She slumped next to him and it took him a moment to realize she was there. After he asked her what was wrong, she began in a hushed voice informing him of everything. Her tone got more insistent as she got more upset about the situation. She went off into a tangent about everything that had happened between her and Ron, even about the first time they kissed. She didn't leave any walls up.

               Harry felt like plugging his ears for most of the one-sided conversation, he didn't want to hear the details of his friends' relationship, but couldn't stop her from telling him because he _was her best friend… Even if it meant he would be extremely uncomfortable. _

                She ended everything with, "I'm so glad you're here. Thank you so much for letting me tell you."

                "Sure Hermione," he managed to say.

                "I feel so much better now…" she cried, throwing her arms around him. Hermione remembered all the things people said about Harry and thought about what they had said about Ron. She thought perhaps she _did_ like Harry as more than a friend… She never fought with Harry the way she did with Ron. She noticed for the first time that Harry had sure grown up since first-year and he _was_ good-looking. "I guess you don't me to fix your glasses anymore."

                "No, I don't," he said simply. He suddenly became aware of how close they were sitting. He had never been nervous with Hermione before, but the way she looking into his eyes so intently, it was like she wanted him to kiss her. This was wrong on so many levels and such dangerous territory. What was going on? 

                Hermione thought about how Kelly fancied Harry. She was popular and could choose any guy she wanted, but she fancied Harry. Why shouldn't she fancy him? Harry was the Seeker. He was famous. He was a hero. Compared to Ron, why shouldn't she go after Harry instead of Ron? Hermione thought she had been so stupid to assume anything was going on between Kelly and Ron when Kelly had been Harry's date to the ball!

                Hermione leaned over and pressed her lips to his. She didn't feel anything in the kiss and she immediately regretted kissing him.

Laura sat in a more-or-less secluded section of the library working on a stupid Herbology write-up that was supposed to display her knowledge up through sixth-year fall semester. She already forgot most of what she learned the previous year, so she was vexed. She had to pass! It had been about eight months since she was last in the wizarding world and she was experiencing counter-culture shock. Not only had she been in a different country, but she had been surrounded by muggles. 

                Finally she finished her write-up and got up to leave. She adjusted her Slytherin robes, so they didn't look wrinkled and put away the Herbology book she had been using. As she left, she noticed Granger kissing a brown-haired bloke that looked familiar. It couldn't be Harry…could it? When they parted, she noticed he wasn't wearing glasses, but- It _was _Harry! 

                That prick! How could he?! Harry in love with that mudblood?! No wonder he never wrote her back! He was just _aching_ to get his arms around Granger! She knew she couldn't blame him, because she had broken up with him, but it still hurt. 

                "My _ex-_boyfriend…my _ex_!" she repeated to herself. Finally she gave up. 

                "Stuff him!" she mumbled, leaving the library. 

After getting over the shock of being kissed by Hermione, he couldn't sense anything in the kiss either. It felt awkward even though they both had experience. It wasn't like when you kiss someone you have a crush on or truly fancy, it was just there and uncomfortable so they parted quickly, apologizing at the same time. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, Hermione, but um…I could see where you'd think we'd make a good couple because we're such good friends, but honestly, I don't think I feel that way about you." 

                "It's my fault," Hermione insisted. "I wasn't thinking straight. Just forget about it. Forget it ever happened." She left the room more upset than when she first went to Harry. Now she was embarrassed as well. 

                Harry was confused, but knew that Hermione didn't fancy him. He wiped his lips. It wasn't like kissing Cho, or Laura, or Kelly…


	14. Conviction

A/N: Just a warning reminder, it's PG-13 for a reason…hints only, not blatant ::evil grins::  
  


"Kelly, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute," Ginny panted after running down two hallways.

                Kelly was surprised to see Ginny out of breath from jogging down the hallway to catch up to her. "Erm- sure. Of course."

                "Do you remember the night before the Christmas Ball, there was a Prefect meeting, right?"

                "Yes," Kelly answered. "It was to go over the rules and regulations to be enforced during the ball. Why?"

                Ginny swallowed. "Because-was- Was Draco ever at the meeting?"

                "He was there."

                Dangerously, Ginny revealed that she had been spying on them in the study room. "But didn't you leave before him?" 

                "I did think it was odd, but I didn't think much on it to be honest," she said, smiling. She hated Malfoy and thought he was a conceited peroxide-head.

                "All right, well thanks," Ginny said quickly before excusing herself. Walking to a study room, she couldn't shake the thought that Draco might have been telling the truth. She remembered that at first, she hadn't thought it was Draco because the lad didn't _sound _like him. Plus, she couldn't recall the last time she had heard Draco make fun of younger students. Then again, he could have teased them when she wasn't around…but still… She'd have to talk to Hermione, just to make sure…

                Ginny was finally able to talk to Hermione after supper when they were studying in the common room. "Hermione? Was Draco at the Prefect meeting the night before the ball?" 

                Hermione seemed to be a kilometre away in another world even though, Ginny noticed, that she wasn't reading the book in her hands.

                "Hermione?" she asked again.

                "What? Oh, I'm sorry…" she apologized as Ginny repeated her question again. "He was. Why?" 

                "Just wondering…" she said turning her attention back to her Charms work. A moment or so passed before she asked again, "Hermione?"

                "Yeah?" Hermione looked at the younger girl.

                "Is there any way to charm yourself to look like someone else?"

                "No," she said factually. She thought about it for a moment. "But there is a potion you can concoct to change into someone else for about an hour. It's called the Polyjuice Potion. You have to add a hair of the person-" 

                Hermione rambled on and on about the ingredients, so much so that Ginny suspected Hermione had made it herself once. Then it dawned on her. "Oh my god! Draco had been telling the truth!" She put the pieces together-Millicent was Crabbe's girlfriend and Pansy- she would kiss anything that resembled Draco… "Oh my god!" 

Laura sat in the Slytherin common room on a desk where a few second-year students were studying. She crossed her legs as she turned to the next page of the book she was reading. 

                Draco reclined on a couch in perfect view, with his hands behind his head. He liked his current position very much because he could partially see up her skirt. "Nice legs," he remarked, catching her off-guard.

                She didn't quite hear what he said because she was reading, but recognized the familiar drawl. "Excuse me?" She looked up from her book and saw Draco smirking. 

                "I said, 'nice legs'." 

                A few second-years giggled while the others shushed them, wanting to listen.  

                "Whose?" she wondered casually. 

                "Yours." 

                "Thanks…" she replied in an if-you-say-so tone before returning to her book.

                The whispers from the twelve-year-olds continued until they simultaneously got up and left them alone. Laura was oblivious to their departure until Draco spoke up. 

                "Bet you loved coming back here only to find your boyfriend in Granger's arms."

                "Piss off!" she retorted, trying to find the compulsion to comprehend what she was reading instead of listening to his voice.

                "Bloody Gryffindors!" He muttered even though she was trying to read. He didn't move from his spot on the couch.   

                "What about your precious _Weaselette_," she asked, flipping the page. He was shocked that she knew about it and it registered in his face. She smiled impishly. "Don't think I don't know about it! I've heard you've gone soft…got Weasel-fever." Her voice was coated with sugary-sweetness.

                He sat up, swinging his legs to the floor. "Last we spoke you were still in love with Scar-head!"

                Taking offence to that, she threw her book down and faced him. "You were with that mudblood-lover for nearly a year! How did that tragically end?" she questioned sardonically.

                He stood up, absolutely appalled that she would mention Ginny as a mudblood-lover. "She broke up with me because she thought I was cheating on her! All right?!" he seethed, standing right in front of her now.

                She snorted. "Didn't you?" She uncrossed her legs, but remained seated on the desk.

                "I DIDN'T!" he obstinately replied.

                "I find that hard to believe… Who was it? Granger?"

                "HELL NO! Granger's with Weasley…"

                "Then why would she be snogging Harry?" She crossed her arms. 

                "I don't know. That slag can die for all I care! It's partially her fault for breaking us up. Oh sod it all, I don't care! Ginny wouldn't believe I'm innocent anyhow."

                "Innocent?!" she chuckled. "You're far from that!"

                "You're one to talk!" 

                "How about Weasley? Was she a good shag?"

                "We didn't ever—"

                "I find that hard to believe," Laura scoffed. She read his expression carefully. He obviously was telling the truth since he'd normally brag about his latest conquest. "Who were you shagging on the side, then?"

                "No one! I haven't since—" he stopped himself short.

                He didn't respond for a moment and the information sunk in. "I can't believe that Draco Malfoy, the toff who shags anyone with—" 

                "Tell me, who've you been shagging in America?" he interrupted her. "Were they comparable to Potter?" He was in her face now.

                "No one! I'm not a slag!" she yelled.

                "Well, I'm the best you'll ever have and you know it's true!" he spat.

                Without a spilt-second going by, she slapped him. Bitter tears strained behind her lids.

                Stunned, he put a hand to where her palm had made contact with his skin. He saw the tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that…" He showed his true self to her then, his vulnerability, as if she were like Ginny who compelled him to tell her everything. 

                He looked at the girl in front of him as if he saw her for the first time. He knew he had corrupted her…just as he would have done with Ginny. He reached over with the hand, which was previously on his face, to wipe the tears from hers, sighing.

                "Sodding Gryffindors," she said; her voice barely above a whisper. "They've ruined us…they've made us weak…susceptible..."

                "Sod them…" he said with a voice identical in volume as he leaned down to kiss her… 

                There was nothing else around them when they kissed. It was as if everything disapparated and they were left with only each other. Their commiseration and grief over their lost loves melted away in their passionate embrace. 

                Laura's body involuntarily began glowing orange like when she performed a healing trance on Draco last year. Their thoughts merging as their bodies became one. The mutual concession, _I understand_, was a previously unimaginable release.

                This wasn't about their family names. This wasn't about Gryffindors or Slytherins. This wasn't about Ginny Weasley or Harry Potter. This was a moment in time all to themselves, away from all of that. This was their moment of shared understanding. _We're the same…_


	15. Keeping Up Appearances

What were they doing? What had they done? Why had she thought it had been something special, different from their prior encounters? Laura was just casual shag for him…something to be used and discarded. It hadn't bothered her much before-when she had been fully all in favour of avenging her mother's murder. Now was she actually feeling something besides loathing about Draco? She couldn't…that wasn't allowable… They were using each other to move on, to get over the Gryffindors that had broken their hearts, nothing more. Nothing more. She couldn't help but allow a few tears to escape and fall onto his chest where her head lay.

                Draco missed Ginny. No, he didn't feel guilty. Malfoys never felt guilt. There was just a part of him that wished he still had a chance with Ginny. At the same instance, he realized just how mucked up he and Laura were. It wasn't their fault. It was in their blood. Laura was a release for him; that was all. At the same time, he felt something besides lust when he was with Laura. She was here willingly though, so why should he stop her? It didn't matter. She didn't mean anything to him. He could manipulate her. She didn't mean anything to him…

                It took a few minutes to realize her tears were rolling down his chest. He tilted her head to face him. "What's the matter? Did I hurt you?"

                "No," she sniffed, "…it's nothing…"

                She was in love with Potter still…that was why, Draco figured. She wished he was Potter. 

                Laura caught the latter part of his thoughts. She heard his thought, "_Potter…_" echo in her mind. Her mind-melding wasn't on purpose. If she had been properly trained from an early age and sent to Hogwarts instead of Beauxbaton, she might have had more control of what thoughts she allowed the other to hear. Thoughts floated between them.

                _We never deserved them... _

"I never told her that I loved her; that was one of her reasons," Draco said as he absentmindedly twirled her hair with his fingers.

                "Did you love her? Do you still?"

                "I don't know…" _It's not like I'm the best at identifying emotions, let alone feel something. I did feel something for her. I don't know what it was, but I suppose you could call it love. She made me more honest and true about my intentions. But I still wasn't fully myself around her. I still felt that I needed to be better than what I am, like I'm not good enough the way I am for her._ "She deserves better and I still believe that."       

                With Laura, he was truly himself. There were no walls, no boundaries, just himself with all his flaws. _I always felt I could tell Ginny anything, but even though she had proven her love for me, I don't think she was entirely herself around me either._

                Laura understood exactly what he meant. _Harry couldn't understand me either. It's because he's too good...he can't really understand why I did all that stuff last year…_

_                Potter? No…it's Ginny… She's too perfect._

                Laura broke the silence. "She's not perfect, Draco. No one is," she told him honestly.          

                "I certainly am not." His tone was partially scoffing, but sincere.               

                She knew it was true. She herself was damaged goods and that's why she never gave in to Harry no matter how much she had wanted to. "Neither am I." 

                She sounded dejected and he felt it was partially his fault she wasn't innocent. He didn't know what to say in response to that.

                "But would you really want to be perfect?" she wondered.

                It took him a moment before he figured, "I don't know." 

                _Now Potter's not in the way…_

                _Now Ginny's out of the way…_

                She shifted so she could catch his glance. There was a mutual glint of revenge in their eyes. 

                He smirked as his grey eyes met her wide charcoal ones. "We've always said we'd make a great team." 

                She smiled slowly, casually prompting, "But how to revenge?" 

                "Revenge?" He wondered if he had heard her right.

                "Why? Do you think I'm wicked?" she slyly inquired.

                "Wicked in bed," he said frankly before kissing her on the lips. She'd be his Slytherin Queen yet!

Draco and Laura were having a field day feigning over-affection for each other in the most sickeningly-sweet way possible. They wanted to see people's reaction to them. It was a rather well-known fact that their families hated each other, so it also got the Slytherins talking. This was phase one of their plan to get revenge on the Gryffindors. 

                Zabini approached Laura in the Slytherin common room within hearing range of other sixth and seventh-years. "Why would you waste your time with him?" he cocked his head in Draco's direction. "After all, he's tainted with Weasel. You could do so much better…"

                "Go shag yourself Zabini. That's all you ever think about anyway," she spat spitefully. She walked over to where Draco was. Sliding her arms around him, she sat perfectly on his lap saying, "I wouldn't chose anyone else, darling."

                "I should hope not, sugar."

                "Shall we find more suitable accommodations where people aren't pestering us about our lovely relationship?" she suggested, standing back up.

                "My sentiments exactly," he replied. He gathered up his books under one arm so the other was free to escort her out of the common room. "Come, sweetheart."

                Most of the Slytherins left in the room were holding back their gag reflexes. "What the bloody hell was that all about?!" Parkinson demanded.

                "You think they've called a truce?" Goyle offered. "You don't think they're really together, I mean, they hate each other. They've got to be faking it."

                Crabbe shrugged dumbly.

                Bulstrode countered, "It's so obvious they fancy each other!"

                "I don't think so," Zabini denied. "If they did, they'd be murdered in their sleep because their parents would never approve! They'd and rather have them _dead_ than together."

A week after the famous kiss between Harry and Hermione, Harry was walking around Hogsmeade with Kelly. Since it was still winter, it was really cold outside and the two of them decided to go inside a shop to get something warm to drink. Kelly opted to go in a well-known coffee shop that had all different kinds of drinks. Harry bought her a wizarding cappuccino that sparkled when it was stirred. 

                They chose to sit in a room on the second floor that was near the fireplace so they could chat, but next to the window so they could observe people walking below. After snuggling in the café for a few hours, she spotted Malfoy walking outside with a girl on his arm. "Isn't that Malfoy?" she asked.

                Harry leaned over her shoulder to get a better view. "I think so…"

                "Well, who's that with him?" Kelly wondered. "She looks familiar. A Slytherin...I think…"

                "Wait-is that Laura?" Harry thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. "That's Laura!"

                "Laura?" Kelly wasn't sure she wanted to ask him how he knew her, but she figured it'd come up eventually. "You know her?"

                "Um- yeah. She was my girlfriend last year…" Harry blinked a few times and sat back next to her. This time, his arm was around her shoulders. "Would you like something else to drink?"

                "No thanks," she replied, smiling.

                Harry wasn't about to go running down to the street, in the freezing cold, and make a fool of himself in front of Malfoy even if he still had feelings for his ex-girlfriend- especially not when he had a beautiful girl sitting next to him that fancied him. He did the smart thing and stayed with his arm wrapped around Kelly and decided to ask her, "Will you be my girlfriend?" He didn't want his friendship with Ron to be ruined because of the kiss he had shared with Hermione and felt that if it ever came up in conversation or if someone saw them and decided to tell Ron, he would be safer if he had a girlfriend.

                She had a hunch after the Christmas Ball that he would be asking her this at some point and she had had debated about whether she should go out with him or not. She was really too busy to have a boyfriend, after talking to Ron, she thought if she remained single it could prove hazardous to Ron and Hermione's relationship. She felt responsible for breaking them up even though it hadn't been on purpose.

                How could she say no when those deep green eyes looked into her soul? "Yes Harry, I will." Kelly normally would turn boys down but in Harry's case, she made an exception. He was Harry Potter, the all-around nice guy, who stood up for his friends. He was Gryffindor's Seeker and really handsome. It also helped that he was a good kisser too.


	16. All That Seems is not What Is

That Wednesday at supper, Harry made a point of looking for Laura to see if she truly was back at school and if she was, he wanted to at least go and say 'hi' to her. 

                Meanwhile, Laura was bombarded by owls just after finishing her stew. "UGH!" she exclaimed, ripping the envelopes in half before reading them. 

                Draco asked her about them and she said simply, "My father."

                "Well, aren't you going to open them?" 

                Without answering him, she took out her wand and disintegrated them. He was rather shocked, but didn't think too deeply on it as he finished his meal.            

                After Harry finished eating, he meandered over to the Slytherin table, while nearly every single student looked on, curious as to what would pass between to the two foes. 

                Draco noticed that everyone was watching Harry. "Looks like Potter's on his way over." 

                Laura began to rise from her chair when Draco pulled her back down ordering, "You're not going over to him!" 

                Harry had already arrived. "Laura, hi... I wanted to see you—" 

                "Sod off Potter!" Draco cursed. 

                Harry raised an eyebrow. "I see you two have become friends," he commented slightly suspiciously. 

                Laura whispered in Draco's ear saying, "Let me talk to him. After all, we've got to keep up appearances." 

                Draco frowned as she hugged Harry. "Harry! How have you been?" She sounded overly cheerful and Draco withheld a groan as he rolled his eyes. 

                "I'm fine. Well, tell me, how was over-seas?" 

                "I was in America, actually." 

                "Really? Where?" 

                "I'm not sure where." 

                "You were at a wizarding school though, right?" he asked, even though he knew she hadn't been at a wizarding school. He was testing her to see if she'd lie to him like she had on more than one occasion last year.  

                "Yes. It was very nice. I had a great roommate too." Judging by the look in his eyes, she could tell that he knew she had lied and wanted him to know the truth. She wanted him to know what really happened even though she was still angry with him for kissing Granger. She hugged him again saying, "I've missed you." 

                All the while Kelly, along with everyone else in the Great Hall, was witnessing the scene wondering what would happen. She sat at the Ravenclaw table with Padma, wondering why her boyfriend was embracing his ex and if she should go over there and put a stop to it.

                Laura kissed him on the cheek briefly to hide the fact she was taking his hands into hers to mind-meld.           

                Draco noticed she was starting to glow orange. That was enough 'appearing' for Draco. Overtly jealous, he stood up, grabbed her hand away from Harry's, and yanked her away declaring, "That's enough!"

                Harry's eyes had involuntarily shut as images were transferred from Laura to him. They were quick, unorganised, and jumbled. He couldn't quite make sense of what she was telling him and blinked his eyes open, dazed, but Laura was gone. "Whoa," he mouthed. It took Harry a moment to come to his senses and make sense of all the images he received from Laura. Most of them had to do with her experiences in America, but a few pictures of her and Draco together. All-in-all he was conveyed the feelings of desire to tell the truth and re-ignited love, but in what context the feelings were, he hadn't a clue. 

                Ron came over to him. "What was that? Was that Laura?"

                Harry blinked a few times. "Er-Laura, yeah, that was her."

                Ron wanted to make good on his previous declaration of socking Malfoy. "Well, you can't let him get away with that, now can you?"

                "Get away with what, Ron? What are you talking about?" Harry was finally coming to his senses, still unable to make sense of the images and emotions she had transferred to him.

                "With running off with your girl, that's what!" Ron punched a fist into his hand, eager now that he had another reason to beat Malfoy up. "That, and cheating on Ginny!"

                "She's not my girl anymore. I'm going out with Kelly now," Harry informed him, not moving.

                "Well…" Ron was at a loss as what to say, "I'll get 'em for you!"

                If Harry hadn't been distracted, he would have caught Ron in time, but he was already out of the Great Hall, chasing down Malfoy.

                Ron caught up to Malfoy and Marwood as they walked holding hands. Before either of them knew what was coming, Ron spun the pair around with one arm and swung a fist at Malfoy with the other. Malfoy flew back, landing on the ground and Marwood gasped, "What the-" 

                Once Marwood got a glimpse of Malfoy's attacker, she exclaimed, "Weasley-You bleedin' idiot! You'll pay for that!"

                Satisfied with Malfoy on the ground, Ron smirked at the shorter girl. "What are you going to do about it?"

                Malfoy stumbled before getting to his feet and wiping the blood from his nose on his sleeve. "You get off by seeing me bleed, Weasley?"

                Marwood was fumbling for her wand, not that it'd do either of them much good. "Leave him alone!"

                "I don't need any help, love," Malfoy said as he ducked another punch from Ron and socked him in the gut. 

                Ron doubled-over as Malfoy's fist met with his middle, but he wasn't easily floored. Ron went for the side of Malfoy's face again; fiery knuckles meeting with pallid skin.

                "Stop it you two!" It was Harry's voice. 

                Ron flinched as he heard Harry and at that moment, Malfoy got in another good punch- this time his fist connected with Ron's left cheek.

                "_Immoblius_!" Harry commanded, aiming at both Malfoy and Ron. 

                Laura was wide-eyed in shock, but after she got over the initial surprise, she ran over to Harry. "Fix it!" She tugged his wand-arm.

                He looked down at her, shaking his head saying, "As much as I'd love to let Ron get a few more swings in, I don't want his Head Boy badge to get taken away because of Malfoy."

                Ron and Malfoy were glaring at him, angry that they couldn't finish their duel. 

                "Lucky Potter saved your sorry excuse for an ass," Malfoy sneered.

                "This isn't over, Malfoy. Not even close! I'll make you pay for cheating on my sister and stealing Harry's girlfriend!"

                "_Ex_- Ron," Harry reminded him.

                Laura sighed. "Just let them alone, Harry."

                "Since when are you so keen on Malfoy?!" Harry demanded.

                She opened her mouth to reply, but McGonagall had already stumbled upon the students with Hermione at her heels. Both of them looked cross. "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy…Miss Marwood." She took in the entire scene. "Potter… Would you care to explain yourselves?" 

                Hermione crossed her arms rather huffily.

                "Harry was demonstrating how to do the _Immoblius_ charm, Professor," Laura was explaining. "Weas- Ron and Draco agreed to participate in the demonstration…" She met Draco's glance, staring intently as if to say 'appearances…remember'. 

                Draco concurred, "What she said, Professor," only after the prompting and Ron agreed likewise. 

                McGonagall wasn't stupid and saw the physical signs of the brawl from Malfoy's bloody nose and Ron's throbbing cheek. She said, "_Finite Incantatum_," andordered them, "To the hospital wing, both of you."

                Hermione sniffed unsympathetically as Ron passed by as if to say 'you _should_ be removed of Prefect duty' and he knew that was what she wanted to say but wouldn't because McGonagall was there. He rolled his eyes.

                Laura wanted to follow, but McGonagall declared, "If you want them to remain Prefects, you'll go back to Slytherin Tower without another word."

                She wanted to yell, "FINE!" but with all her self-control, she held in the biting word. She looked to Harry and then at Granger. She thought Granger was just as narcissistic as Draco was. Sodding bint standing there like she owned the place! She deserved to have _her_ Prefect badge removed! Why was it always Granger?

                "Let's go," Harry said to Hermione. 

                She nodded, giving Marwood one last look of disapproval. 

                Laura resisted the urge to spit at Granger as she left with Harry. She saw the supposed 'new girlfriend' of Harry's rush out of the Great Hall to meet up with him and Granger. Laura watched as all three of them walked down the hallway. Now Harry was with two girls at once? What was that? Some Ravenclaw girl _and _Granger?

A/N: Next up, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw!


	17. Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw

It was finally Saturday and the game Gryffindor had been waiting for was finally taking place. The only thing they weren't expecting was that the Slytherins were looking forward to this game as well. The Ravenclaw team had been out on the Quidditch pitch three hours prior to the start of the game and their captain had made sure every female member did their hair the same way.

Harry, Ron, Dean, and the rest of the Gryffindor team were listening to Seamus' pre-game speech which ended with, "Now men …" He looked around, making eye contact with each and every one of them. "Do NOT under any circumstances think of the gorgeous Ravenclaw women as women! They are the ENEMY!" He said the last part specifically to Harry who couldn't help but snigger. "I'm serious Potter!"

"I know _Finnigan_," Harry said smiling. 

They grabbed their brooms and headed out to the field where Madame Hooch began the game. Ron looked around whenever he had a spare second to scan the stands for any sign of Hermione, but he didn't spot her. "Figures," he muttered, striking the next Bludger so hard he nearly knocked a team-mate off their broom.

"Watch what your doin', Wealsey!" Seamus yelled. "Eyes on the playing field!"

Within the first five minutes of the game, Draco and Laura finally found their place in the stands. "Aw sod it all!" Draco cursed after spotting his father and mother in the adjacent stands where Professors Snape, Wen, Flitwick, and Sprout sat. 

Laura's eyes went from the Malfoys to a tall shaded figure looming just behind the stands. The man stepped from the shadows and her eyes widened in horror. 

If it wasn't for her grip on Draco's arm that was so tight she was starting to draw blood, he wouldn't have noticed what she was looking at. "My father," she breathed, just loud enough for Draco to hear.

"Things have gone from unpleasant to sod all to hell," he said as Roger Marwood took a seat in the stands behind the Malfoys. "What the bloody hell's he doing here?"

The two rivaling families were conversing in what seemed like pleasant conversation, but anyone with half a brain would know that it was all a hypocritical sham. The hostile undercurrents in their seemingly genial exchange were apparent from their facial expressions and body language even from kilometers away.

"I don't know," she answered, still staring at the stands. Quickly, she turned to face Draco, panicking. "We can't let them see us here, like this…together!"

"What do you mean? Of course we can." Draco pulled her closer to him, so he could tell her without anyone else hearing, "Keeping up appearances, remember, Riana. We can't stop now before phase two is complete."

Her furrowed brow softened as he called her Riana. No one ever called her that before, yet it sounded so familiar…so personal. "You're right," she exhaled. She couldn't help but remain worried about what their parents would say when they found out about their little ruse.

The Ravenclaw Captain substituted for an injured Beater and all eyes were on her as she flew into position. The entire male portion of the Gryffindor team was enamored with her visage, so much so that they couldn't peel their eyes from her, let alone concentrate of the game. The female members were so infuriated they wanted to call the game off so they could beat some sense into their team-mates. It appeared that Madame Hooch couldn't care less about the boys going nutty over some girl and Andersson didn't even notice. The Ravenclaw team felt the Quidditch Cup was in the bag.

"Funny what a simple intoxication spell can do," Laura grinned impishly.

As long as Gryffindor didn't win Quidditch Cup, Draco was satisfied with phase two. He caught his father looking over at the Slytherin stands, no doubt scanning the crowd for his son. With his slightly wounded arm now swung about Laura's shoulders, he directed her attention to his injury. "I could have done without nails digging into my skin though," he said slightly morose.

She didn't know she had cut him. "I'm sorry, darling. Shall I kiss it?" she offered, but his lips were already devouring hers. 

He knew very well his father was watching them at that very moment. It was as if he could feel his father's eyes scorching holes into his back. When he broke away from a breathless Laura, he no longer saw his parents in the stands. "Pay-back time," he mumbled.

"What?" she asked, once she had caught her breath. She prayed her father wouldn't try to take her away from Hogwarts, especially after she and Draco had gone through so much trouble planning the downfall of Gryffindor House's ego.

Without answering her, he deliberately left her alone in the stands so he could face his parents alone. She didn't follow him, figuring what was happening and not wanting to leave the security of the Slytherin stands. With so many witnesses, he wouldn't abduct her now…he couldn't. Dumbledore was around somewhere too, right? Her heartbeat quickened and she suddenly felt cold, so she drew her cloak more tightly around her shoulders.

Around four in the afternoon, the spell on Andersson wore off and Harry caught the snitch. He was disappointed to find out that Ravenclaw had won, but thought it was odd that Gryffindor racked up about the same amount of points that Slytherin had in their game versus Ravenclaw. He shrugged it off as he went in to shower and change.

Ron was preoccupied wondering why Hermione hadn't at least shown up to support them. Well, if not for him, for Harry at least. Weren't they still chummy? He thought it was a best friend's duty to support their friends at games. What was her problem? It was Saturday. Why would she be doing homework on a weekend? She was Hermione.

"Maybe she had other things to do," Dean offered, knowing what was bothering Ron.

"Whatever," was all that Ron could say in response. He didn't want to talk about it anyhow. 

Laura was shuffled along with the other Slytherins as they filed down from the stands. Before rounding the corner, she heard Draco and his parents conversing in a not-so-pleasant manner.

"I had nothing to do whatsoever with the death of Lucretia Marwood," Lucius informed his son.

Draco was sceptical. His father had lied to him all his life. Why should he believe him now? "Right."

"Why should you care?" his mother coldly questioned. "Have you started fancying that tart?"

"I told you already, mother, she's a toy, a plaything. She doesn't mean anything to me. As you suggested, father, I plan on breaking her heart. What better way to assure the family claims?" Draco claimed regally.

"You know we expect more than that from you," Lucius drawled. 

"You might as well get back with that Weasley girl than touch that whoreson's daughter!" Narcissa seethed icily. 

Before Laura could hear more, large hands gripped her shoulders. "It's been awhile, Lauriana."

"Father?"

"Roger, what brings you here," Professor Dumbledore interceded. 

"Visiting my daughter who has fascinatingly been able to avoid me for over a year, Albus," Roger sneered. "Now she's coming with me." 

"She's not leaving." Dumbledore stared at him assuredly. "But you are." Dumbledore summoned Professor Snape and Wen to escort Marwood off the premises while Dumbledore ushered Laura inside the castle. 

After showering and changing, Harry, Ron, and their male team-mates avoided the girls who would probably never forgive them for losing the game no matter how many butterbeers they bought for them at Honeydukes. They retired early after eating supper as there was no cause or reason to celebrate. "Bet you're glad Hermione wasn't there after all," Dean commented to Ron as they entered through the Fat Lady. 

Ron shrugged his shoulders without replying. He actually wanted her to be there even though he, along with the rest of his male team-mates had been captivated by the charming Ravenclaw Captain. He missed Hermione's condescending glare and her clever remarks even if they were demeaning to him personally.

Ron found Hermione sitting at a table in the common room surrounded by books. He sat across from her with his own books and coursework as if she wasn't even there. He knew she spotted him walk over, but went on with the ruse anyway. 

Hermione refused to raise her head from the table. She was still angry with him for ignoring her, so now it was his turn to be ignored. She'd give him a taste of his own medicine!

Ron was impatient and frustrated with her arrogance. Why couldn't she say some witty comment about how he was doing his coursework? She could demand to know why he had the nerve to sit across from her at least! But she wasn't saying anything, let alone _looking_ in his direction. He didn't receive so much as an icy glare. It finally dawned on him that she was trying to get back at him for not speaking to her. So this was how she was going to play it! He wasn't about to let her win, so he resorted to childish behaviour in order to make her speak to him. 

Ron tapped his foot on the ground to provoke her, but it wasn't working because the sound wasn't loud enough. Once his foot tired, he started rapping the tip of his quill on a piece of parchment as if he was trying to get the ink to flow. He tapped again and again in rhythmic drumming, ardently staring at the parchment.

Hermione's eyes darted from her own work to the incessantly tapping quill. She tried her best to ignore it, but the empty room magnified the annoying sound. "I know what you're doing and it's not going to work!"

He smiled because it already had. "What?" he asked, playing dumb.

"THAT!" She grabbed the quill out of his hands.

"I need that…" Ron said, trying to grab the quill back from her, but she held it out of his reach. "Give it here!"

"No!" she replied defiantly.

"Well I can't very well finish my work if you don't give it back."

"And I can't study with you tapping your quill on the desk."

"The ink wasn't flowing!"

"I don't care! Just go someplace else to tap it then!" She threw the quill on the desk and closed two of the books she had been studying from.

Not wanting her to leave he said, "Just- stay here, I'll go to the library and leave you in peace." He got up from his seat and started packing up his things when Harry came over to them.

"You lot talking again?" Harry wondered aloud. "It's about time." He sat adjacent from them at the table with his own study materials.

"No!" they irately denied at the same time. They shot fierce glances at each other for speaking identically. 

Harry smirked. Looks like things were looking up, or so he thought. "Why didn't you come to the game, Hermione?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Harry! I just had so much to do…plus I started making outlines for the N.E.W.Ts…"

As Harry and Hermione friendly conversed, Ron remembered what Seamus had told him about Hermione and Harry in the library a few weeks ago. "I'll just leave!" Ron declared. "Wouldn't want to interrupt an intimate study session."

"What do you mean by that?!" Hermione demanded indignantly. 

"I heard about you throwing yourself at Harry-snoggin' him in the library!" Ron shoved his books under one arm. "Don't think you can deny it either!"

"I-" Hermione was at a loss for words. She looked to Harry for support, but he sat dumbly, pretending not to listen to their argument and wanting to stay the hell out of it. She closed her mouth and sat down without another word. What had she done?

Ron stood there a moment, waiting for a rebuttal that never came. So it was true. She wouldn't even rebuff it? He stalked to his room and slammed the door. They were still fighting, but at least they were speaking to one another. That was a step forward, wasn't it? But why had Hermione kissed Harry? The thought remained heavily on his mind and he thought it'd drive him mad. Why Harry? He shook his head. At least she didn't fancy Malfoy.

Once alone, and back to Slytherin Tower, Draco lunged at Laura, causing her to fly into his room. Without speaking, he ravaged her lips, yanking at clothing. After while, she was moaning his name, begging, wishing he felt something for her, but knowing he didn't. He was so forceful, it seemed as if she wasn't really there and the tears streaming down her face were non-existent. 

She felt his fingers clawing the back of her neck, but she would say nothing, save his name. Her head began to ache as fiercely as his kiss.

Draco seemed angry, resentful as if something dawned on him that had been until then inconceivable. It was as if he was trying to convince himself of something, but she couldn't figure out what. When he tired of her, he commanded, "Get out." He pushed her away from him.

"What?" 

"I said, get out." 

Confused, she pulled her clothes on, but made no move to leave. 

"GET OUT!" He went over to his door, pulling her with him. He thrust the door open, pushed her out, and slammed it.

She didn't care that there were people in the common room as she yelled, "I'm not some cheap whore you can toss about! You can't do something like this without explanation and think you can get away with it Draco Malfoy!" She banged her fists on his door, cursing that her wand was still in his room. Just one tiny hint…just an ounce of expression of true caring for her and she wouldn't have rushed out of Slytherin Tower sobbing. He hadn't a drop of caring in his being!

She didn't notice the sun of late February was setting. She didn't even notice it had started to rain a sleety shower which only enhanced her frosty mood. The rain poured down as she trudged around the grounds. Without knowing her destination, she finally fell to her knees in something between grass and gravel, grasping it in her hands. With grass and gravel in her hands, she hurled it in front of her, succumbing to wracking sobs. She felt like such a fool. 

A/N: bwhahahaa, I like being evil, evil is fun…more manipulation and evilness headed your way…   
  



	18. What Girlfriend?

Ron burst into Harry's shared room three hours before classes started that Monday morning. "Harry! Get up!"

"What? What's going on, Ron?" Harry wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but without warning, Ron threw clothes at Harry, demanding he get his lazy ass out of bed. 

"You're not going to believe this! I heard Professor Wen talking to Filch about Laura. Seems, Filch found her Sunday, laying somewhere just outside the castle!"

"What?!" Harry pulled a shirt over his head. Harry hurried around his belongings, finally slipping shoes on and rushed out of the room.

"Harry?" He turned to face Ron. "Where are you going?"

"Hospital wing, where else?"

Ron shrugged and chased after him. "Listen, her being in the hospital is not the important part! Why in the world would Wen be so concerned about her? I could understand if it was Snape, I mean, he's head of her house, but Wen…that's a tad suspicious." 

"I don't understand," Harry said as they bounded down the stairs from Gryffindor Tower.

"I'm saying, that Wen's up to something."

"Like what?" Harry prompted.

"Just look at him, it's obvious he was in Slytherin when he was in school. He seemed extremely interested in every minute detail of her situation, Harry." 

Harry could only nod. They finally reached the hospital wing and after a few minutes were able to persuade Madam Pomfrey to allow them in to see Laura. It was lucky Ron was Head Boy or they might not have been allowed in.

They saw Laura lying heavy-eyed on the hospital bed. "What's happened? Is she all right?"

"She's fine now, but she was out in that nasty weather all night, and has got herself a chill. She'll be right as rain in a few days, as long as she stays in bed," Pomfrey assured them. After waking her up, she poured some liquid in a glass and had Laura sit up. "Drink this, dear." 

"I'll um…just be over there," Ron said, feeling that Harry would want to talk to his ex-girlfriend alone.

"Laura," Harry said as he sat next to her bed.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" She was surprised to see him there, especially after everything. 

"Why were you out there? You could have-something worse could have-" Harry tried to say.

"I'm fine…" she reassured him, avoiding his glance, not particularly keen on telling him. "But how did you know I was here?" 

"Ron told me-" He looked over at Ron and decided it best not to tell her how Ron had found out. "He's a Prefect you know, so… I wanted to see if you were all right."

"I see…" she said. "Thanks for coming."

Harry bowed his head, holding onto her hand. He knew she and Malfoy were obviously a couple, but where was he? He didn't care as much about her as Harry did. Malfoy didn't care about anyone besides himself. Here Laura lay ill… Harry figured it was somehow do to Malfoy. 

Brushing her dark hair away from her eyes, he leaned precariously towards her and kissed her brow. It wasn't until that moment that he realized just how much he had missed her. Examining her full lips, he longed to feel her lips on his… 

"Well, we ought to be getting to class now," Ron informed them, walking over. "Harry?!" he exclaimed as he found him kissing Laura.

"Yeah." Harry broke away from her, obviously embarrassed. "Well, feel better Laura."

"Thanks…" she breathed; still unbelieving that Harry had kissed her. If she had had the strength, she would have pushed him away.

The pair left and Laura was confused. She wanted to believe that Harry was sincere, but after seeing him with Granger and his new Ravenclaw girl, she couldn't believe in him anymore. She was just another girl for him.

"What was that Harry?!" Ron demanded as the headed for Transfiguration. "You were kissing her, weren't you?!"

"I was. So what?" Harry said without caring.

"What about your girlfriend?" 

The look on Harry's face was as if he had completely forgotten about Kelly. He didn't have time to make a reply because as they neared the classroom, they saw Snape conversing with McGonagall. Just as Malfoy entered the room, Snape told McGonagall, "She nearly died."

"I can excuse her from class, but Marwood will have to retake the scheduled exam," McGonagall replied.

"Understandable." Snape said as he left.

All Draco heard of the conversation was 'nearly died' and 'Marwood'. He took two steps forward before pausing and turning back around, exiting the room. He briskly walked to the hospital wing, praying he wasn't the reason she was there in the first place. 

With a dour expression he approached her bedside and sat down in the chair previously occupied by Harry. She was asleep. What had happened to her? He felt so bad about abusing her by both words and body. He exhaled, staring at the floor while running his hands through his hair, not knowing what to do or what could be done. He wished to have that healing power she possessed-the power she had used to heal him last year. But Draco didn't have that power. He didn't have the power to even tell her how guilty he felt. He raised his head to look on her features again and take up her hand. Her cold hand unconsciously folded flawlessly into his. He thought he heard her whisper, "Dra-," but he couldn't be certain.

Madame Pomfrey had a bit of a shock when she returned to find Draco there. She explained to him what had happened and told him he should return to class, but he flashed his Prefect badge, telling her if there was a problem with it; he'd be responsible for it. She shrugged and left him alone with Laura after making her rounds.

When she woke up a few hours later, he was still there and their fingers were still entwined. He hadn't taken his eyes off her the entire time. "Harry," she said slowly as she woke up. Draco sniffed, disgusted at the name.

"Harry was here…He-kissed me," she said drowsily only half aware that Draco was there.

"I see." He examined her eyes, searching for meaning. After looking up to his father and wanting to be like him, he despised him. He was brought up on lies and hatred, why should he demand the truth from anyone and why should anyone ever believe a Malfoy? "I'm sorry, Riana…for before. I was-" He couldn't tell her what he wanted to because it was hard to admit he was wrong. 

"I-I-" She was about to tell Draco that she was sorry about Harry, but he was the one who owed her an apology. How did he have the nerve to show up here when it was his fault in the first place? She looked him straight in the eye. "You can't bloody well stay here all day," she told him lackadaisically.

Draco nodded, loving her wit. He stood up, releasing her hand saying, "Best get back to class." 

She didn't have a chance to say anything else because the back of his cape was already floating out of the room. She sighed, closed her eyes, and lay back onto the pillow.

A/N: I have a feeling this will be a longer fic that the first one…haha…oh well…  
Ginny in the next part!


	19. It'd be Better

One week later…

"Why's Snape here?" Dean wondered as he sat down next to Seamus in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class. 

                "No idea," Seamus replied as he eyed Snape who was talking with Professor Wen in hushed undertones. They'd never seen Snape happy before, but he seemed to actually like the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. 

                "I'll bet they're conspiring away to make us do coursework for weeks," Ron moaned to Harry.

                "Why'd they do that?" Harry asked with raised eyebrow. 

                "Well, they're…they're evil!" Ron waved frivolously towards them. "Look at 'em!"

                "Silence!" Snape hissed. 

                Everyone in the class quickly sat in their seats.

                Wen raised his hands to get their attention. Once he had every single eye on him, he stated, "Professor Snape has gladly volunteered to assist in today's lesson. Today we will be discussing some of the most rambunctious and mischievous creatures known in many cultures…Fairies."

                Some of the class snickered, but others relaxed in their seats.

                Snape glared at those who smiled. 

                "Fairies are invisible to the human eye, so Professor Snape has concocted the necessary potion which will enable us to see them. Professor Snape," he gestured for him to take over the lecture.

                "Rowan berries brewed with an infusion of four-leaved clovers creates the 'fairy juice' often referred to as The Glamour…" Snape sneered, "Which after being applied to the eyelids of the user allows them to see fairies."

                "This should be interesting," Padma whispered to Lavender.

                "When you receive your vials, use the droppers to place no more than two drops each eye…"

                "Allow me," Seamus leaned over his desk to put a few drops into Siena's eyes. 

                She did the same for him and kissed him. Snape stalked over to them. "DETENTION, _Finnigan_!"

                He cursed under his breath.

                "Ten points from Gryffindor," Snape added. "And you-" he pointed to Siena. "After class-my office-be there!"

                "Yes, Professor," Siena replied, lowering her head.

As the class drew to a close, everyone was still recovering from The Glamour. "I think I'm still seeing fairies, Ron," Seamus said, grabbing onto Ron's shoulder for support. "I hope they don't follow me around or try to steal my food…or my Charms coursework…" he joked.

                "Get off, Seamus," Ron said, shrugging off the heavy weight of Seamus leaning on him.

                "Sure'd be a shame to have them steal your coursework," Harry laughed.

                "I wonder why Snape didn't take any points from Ravenclaw," Hermione wondered aloud. She didn't think it fair at all that Gryffindor should suffer when the fault lie in a Ravenclaw tart. She looked to tell someone, but Lavender was a friend of the Ravenclaw girls'.

                Before the class was dismissed, Wen announced, "Professor Snape and I will be reinstating the Duelling Club starting the first Thursday in March, meeting at seven o'clock in the Great Hall. That will be all."

                The class was buzzed with excitement at the Duelling Club starting up again. "This is going to be so cool!" Dean exclaimed, forgetting about all that happened last time there was a Duelling Club.

                "Wicked!" Padma cheered. 

                It appeared everyone wanted to participate, but Ron was reluctant. "It suspicious, don't you think?" he asked Harry. 

                Harry smirked. "I think you're paranoid, Ron. Honestly, do you think Dumbledore would allow the Professors to have a Duelling Club if they were going to kill us off?"

                "Maybe not, but they could have someone else do it for them." Ron threw a look towards Malfoy who was conversing with Wen and Snape. Harry shrugged, gathering his books under his arm and the two of them walked to their next class.

                When Draco finished discussing the reinstated Duelling Club, he jogged to meet Laura at her class. After getting all the details about the club, he knew just the way to get back at the bleeding Gryffindors. He reached her Muggle Studies class and barely took notice of Ginny who sat on the far side of the room, away from the door. 

                Draco waited near the doorway and as soon as the class concluded, he went over to embrace Laura. As he did so, he saw Ginny and wished they could at least talk on civil terms again. He wished she'd believe him, but it didn't matter. He was with Laura now and everyone would just have to deal with it. If it made Ginny hate him, oh well. He figured it was better for her to find someone else, anyway. He could say he was doing her a favour. "I've just found a great way to make those bleeding Gryffindors pay," he whispered seductively in her ear.

                Ginny watched from afar as she walked a few paces behind them in the hallway. 

                Instead of pushing him away, she kept up their façade, listening attentively. "Really…" she smiled decadently. "Do tell…" she said loud enough for Ginny to hear.

                "Later," he told her. 

                As they approached the Potions classroom, Ginny pushed past them to find her seat before Snape yelled at her for being late. Ginny sulked, resting her head on her fist, fighting the urge to confront Draco. She hated that he was flaunting his new girl in front of her like that. How could he have moved on so fast? Had she meant nothing to him? She heard what other people said about Draco and Marwood. Well, he _had_ slept with Marwood last year. He had told her so himself. 

                And what was so special about that Marwood girl anyway? First it was Harry and then Draco…who was next on Marwood's list?

                Draco and Laura knew they had all the time in the world because Draco was Snape's favourite student. "Cold?" he asked Laura. She nodded and he unclasped his cloak, putting it around her shoulders. 

                Ginny remembered vividly earlier that year when Draco would wrap his Slytherin cloak around her shoulders. She remembered all the stares she'd receive wearing a Slytherin robe over her Gryffindor uniform. She suppressed a sigh at the memory as she heard their exchange. 

                She kissed him on the cheek saying, "See you after class, darling."

                "I can hardly wait, sugar," he replied, giving her one last look before stalking down the hall to his next class.

                Last year Ginny had to deal with Harry meeting Marwood after classes, worrying about her friend, her fellow Gryffindor, her old crush, dating a Slytherin and now this! Now she had to watch her ex-boyfriend meet up with the same Slytherin girl after class. Draco was there, but not to walk with Ginny and carry her books, but for Marwood. Ginny had never disliked a person so much in her entire life. She couldn't understand why Draco would date the girl that nearly killed him; who wanted him dead. The girl Ginny was nearly killed by when she threw herself harms way to protect Draco. 

               Why should she forgive Draco anyway? He probably _had_ cheated on her after all, judging by the way he was acting with Marwood. But if he truly was innocent and someone had used Polyjuice Potion to pretend to be Draco, then she really should forgive him. Maybe it was better this way that two Slytherins were with each other so they could leave her and Harry alone. But Marwood had wanted to kill Draco last year. What had changed? What were they playing at? Maybe Dumbledore made them call a truce, but that wouldn't include snogging or holding hands… Ginny would get to the bottom of this somehow whether she had help or not!

A/N: Definitely a PG-14 chapter next… ::closes eyes, peeking a little::


	20. Clear Off

Later that evening, Laura came up behind Draco as he stood chatting with Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini about his plans for the Duelling Club. She wrapped her arms around his waist, taking him by surprise in front of a rather large group of Slytherins. Her head fit perfectly on his shoulder as she listened in on their conversation. 

                "What about making everyone's robes invisible?" Zabini offered. 

                "Ooo I like that idea," Laura commented. 

                Her breath on Draco's neck made his skin tingle. "Everyone'd get a good laugh at that."

                "That'd be embarrassing!" Crabbe chuckled approvingly. 

                "Seeing Granger in her knickers?" Goyle laughed. "Bloody brilliant!"

                "What else could we do?" Draco wondered aloud. "Wouldn't want you to get into trouble, sweetheart," he said to Laura.

                "I'm not afraid," she assured him. "I just can't do anything too bad or else I'll be sent to Azkaban." 

                "I think Dumbledore was exaggerating. He probably just wanted to scare you," Draco figured. 

                "Yeah Laura," Zabini said with a twisting lip that was as close as he could make to an actual smile. "Just think about what your father would do if Dumbledore even threatened you with that."

                "I'm not sure…" Laura said, not particularly wanting to think about her father . 

                Draco didn't want her to get in trouble either. "It's not like we're going to kill them…just embarrass them-make them suffer…"  

                Laura wound herself to the front of him, sliding a hand to the back of his neck making contact with bare skin. Thoughts flowed between them involuntarily. _Hmm…manipulating the other Slytherins- get them to do the work for us…much safer that way._

_                I agree, more beneficial for us._

                Draco wondered what her mind-melding power was and how she was able to use it like that, but luckily she had already broken the link between them and wasn't able to hear his thoughts. 

                They liked their decision and evilly smiled while Zabini looked on, wondering what the hell was going on between the two of them. 

                "Wen and Snape will have all the students put their wands in containers and use fake wands that are rather like pieces of wood to aim and pretend to cast spells," Draco informed them. "This way for the practice duels no one will get hurt. I say, when the Gryffindors are occupied, one of you," he pointed to Goyle and Zabini, "will grab the real wands. After that, we'll curse the wands with some spell… I'll figure out which specific ones later, but for now, that's that plan."

                All of them grinned malevolently, excited at the thought of revenge. The other Slytherin girls came over to them, only hearing the last part of them plan. 

                Draco tired of Pansy and Millicent's presence quickly and stalked away from the growing number of people. Laura, though still angry with him, was encouraged with their mutual plan of revenge on Harry, Ginny, and Hermione, so she took up her book-bag and followed him into his room. 

                "How are you able to do that?" Draco demanded. 

                "Do what?!"

                "That-that- entering my thoughts thing!"

                "I'm not sure actually…it just happens… I mean- in order to heal someone I have to make contact with the other person like holding hands, but entering people's thoughts is a compensation I have no control over."

                "What about when we kissed?" he asked hastily.

                "I think we were both in need of healing then…" she said, not meeting his eyes.

                "But-what about just now in the common room? I wasn't in need of healing!"

                "It just happened! It's not like I have much control over it!"

                "Sure you don't," he sneered, assuming she was trying to manipulate him for some unknown purpose.

                "It's not like I can just walk into a room, choose a person and read their mind!" she infuriately told him.   

                "What was Potter thinking about when he kissed you?!" he demanded accusingly.

                Laura thought about the question for a second. She hadn't ever been able to read Harry's thoughts, not even last year. That was strange, she thought. Then again, her powers had only gotten stronger since the time she desperately wanted Draco to understand her…understand where she was coming from and how much she cared about Harry last year. That was when Ginny had thought Laura was going to kill Draco and Harry saw her thinking Draco was going to harm her when in actuality she had just touched Draco, wanting to merge thoughts so he would understand…"I don't know."

                "I don't care," he told her simply. "I have things to do, so…clear off." He sat down at his desk taking out a piece of parchment and starting on coursework.

                She didn't listen to him and plopped onto the bed with a book in her hand. Lying on her stomach with her feet in the air, she started on the required reading for Muggle Studies.

                Draco didn't hear the door open or close and turned around saying, "What part of 'clear off' don't you understand?" She continued to ignore him and he let his eyes graze the outline of her shoulders down her back and past her skirt to her naked thigh. He licked his lips unconsciously before turning back to his work. 

                He wasn't able to concentrate with her in the room. 

                Turning back around again, he got up and went over to the bed. He flipped her onto her back, knocking the heavy book from her hand in one single move. She leaned up to kiss him and he lost all willpower to force her out of the room. "You have witchcraft in your lips, Riana."

                She smiled as he leaned over to kiss her again.

Harry stood in front of a mirror, staring at the scar that made him famous. It wasn't incredibly visible under his mass of unruly brown hair, but it was there all the same and he wished it was there no longer. He had already corrected his vision so he didn't need glasses anymore, but he wanted to get rid of his scar. Holding his wand, he aimed it at his forehead menacingly.

                "Mark of harm, mar of brow, scar no more!" he chanted his charm and a flash shot from his wand like lightening. 

                "Oh bloody hell!" he cursed when he looked back into the mirror. His scar had turned sideways, so it looked like the letter 'Z'. 

                "Whatcha doin', Harry?" Neville asked, wandering over to him with a bag of popcorn in hand. 

                Dean and Seamus followed and laughed so hard when they saw Harry's forehead. "It's the mark of Zorro! Ha ha ha!" Seamus pointed at him, imitating Zorro.

                "Zorro?" Neville blinked, confused.

                "It's a muggle thing, Neville," Seamus said. "See the Z- it's like this bloke who'd go around slicing the letter Z into things because it stood for his name. Me dad's a big fan…" he explained. Once he got through the explanation, Neville had a reason to laugh along with them.

                "At least it's not permanent," Dean comforted the cross Harry who looked as though steam was coming from his ears.

                "At least it's not a 'V'," Seamus laughed, exiting the toilet before Harry strangled him.

                "Want me to give it a try?" Neville offered graciously.

                "No thanks," Harry replied, examining the tilted scar once more. He covered it with his bangs. At least he could hide it.

While Draco was occupied with Laura, there was a knock at his door. "Go away!" he commanded, Laura moaning beneath him. 

                The knocking persisted and a voice was heard, "Mr Malfoy? Sir!"

                Groaning, Draco rose from the bed, adjusting his clothes and opened the door reluctantly. "What do you want?!" he demanded.

                A pint-sized first-year boy stood at the door, clutching his pillow to his stomach. He seemed to have lost his nerve when his eyes met the Prefect's.

                "Well?" Draco glared at the diminutive boy. "Speak!"

                "I-I-I-I'm sorry to bother you, sir, b-b-but I-" the boy stuttered nervously under Draco's stare. "I've been locked out of my room again."

                "You're a Slytherin. If you want sympathy go bother a Hufflepuff Prefect."

                "Draco…" Laura chided softly, sliding off the bed and pulling a sheet around her.

                He shot one look at her before asking the boy, "What's your name?"

                He choked, "Mac-Macnair. Walter Macnair, sir."

                Draco remembered his father telling him about the Macnairs. Walden Macnair was the Executioner for Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures and a Death Eater. Draco considered this point and figured he should resolve the situation as quickly as possible so he could get back to-whatever he'd rather be doing. "How many times has this happened?"

                "It's the third time this week…" he gulped, "sir. I think they hate me sir."

                "Probably do," Draco said frankly. "Let's go-" He pushed the kid still clutching his pillow, out the door. He glanced at Laura once before closing the door behind him. Once he got to the first-year's rooms, he got out his wand. "_Alohamora_." After he opened the door he ordered, "Get up, you sorry lot!" 

                The startled first-years stood up rapidly, scrambling into an imperfect formation, trying to appear guiltless. 

                "You let Macnair sleep in his room or you answer to me! Understand?" He pushed the kid towards an empty bed. "If I hear _anything_-that so much as a hair on his head has been tampered with, you'll wish you were dead," he snarled.

                All the first-year boys understood not to defy the seventh-year Prefect.

                Draco growled at all of them and slammed the door behind him. "Stupid first-years," he grumbled on his way back to his room. When he got there, Laura slinked her arms around his shoulders, but he ignored it, sitting at his desk to finish his coursework. "You're bothering me, Laura."

                "Oh, shush," she tittered, "You're just tense…" She massaged his shoulders.

                He relaxed a bit under her fingers, but he had coursework to get done and having her there wasn't helping with his concentration. "There's no one here-so, clear off!" He smacked her hands off his shoulders.

                She grabbed his face with her right hand saying, "No need to get po-faced on me."

                Something he didn't need was Laura talking to him like he was a child. "Clear. Off."

                She sniffed. "You want to play it like that, fine." She left and found herself being approached by Zabini. 

                "Not spending the night with Monsieur Prefect, eh? You're like putty to him, you know. He's just messing about with you until he gets bored and moves on. Il est vraiment porté sur la chosé et passe ses soirées à chercher un peu de fesse."

                "You're a broken record, Zabini," she said, moving away from him, "playing to deaf ears."

                He blocked her path to the girls' rooms. "You can play me anytime, love."

                She pushed his arm out of the way and dashed up the stairs, muttering in French, "Tu m'emmerdes," disgusted with him.

A/N: up next- Duelling Club!! Wahoo!  
Zabini said basically Draco's obsessed with sex and spends his nights looking for a piece of ass  
and Laura was like "Frell you!"


	21. Duelling Club

Finally it was March and the whole school was abuzz with the upcoming duelling club. Professor Wen was a dueller and won countless awards, so at the first club meeting, he went over the various rules and how to accumulate points. "It's a strategy game really," he was explaining. He talked for hours about how certain spells amounted to certain amounts of points, like knocking the opponent's wand out of their hand. "But for every second the opponent is down, you receive one point." ****

                Ron spotted Professor Snape looking over at Malfoy and followed his glance to see Malfoy whispering in Marwood's ear causing her to smile. Suspicious, Ron leaned over to tell Hermione his grievances, but she shushed him, concerned about losing house points. He rolled his eyes and waited for Wen to stop talking.

                Harry was bored out of his mind as most of the other students appeared to be. Would they start fighting already? Loads of people had already left, but he didn't dare leave, not with Snape looking on.

                Finally Wen concluded his overview of the Art of Duelling and Snape began passing out imitation wands and collecting the students' wands. This didn't sit to well with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but, not wanting to lose house points for objecting, they relinquished their wands for the sticks of wood. Snape then paired people off and had them shout spells with the fake wands pointed at their opponent.

                Seamus and Dean had loads of fun pretending to be Stupefied or Rictusemprad.

                Soon the first meeting was over and everyone that was still there, were hoping the next club meeting would include real wands. Snape brought out their wands and passed them back to the students.

Friday night, Ron sat in the study room near Gryffindor Tower in the same place he usually sat only Hermione wasn't sitting near him tonight. Of course it wasn't like she had been sitting anywhere near him since the Christmas Ball, but that didn't mean he wasn't bothered by it. He was trying to figure out what in the world he was going to do after graduation. It wouldn't be too long before they'd be taking the N.E.W.T.s and Hermione had the right idea by studying for it now. In fact, she wasn't the only one swotting up on old course material.  

                Looking over a book on wizarding careers, he figured he'd be working at the Ministry like Percy, but he wasn't sure what department suited him. As much as a career as an Auror sounded exciting, he knew just how dangerous it was and honestly didn't think he'd be accepted. Hermione's parents would no doubt send her off to a muggle university since she was so smart. Ron didn't have that kind of money and would end up living at the Burrow until he earned enough money to afford a place of his own. Then again, Hermione had thought being an Auror sounded exciting and all three of them had had so much practice with the Dark Arts over the years. 

                He remembered in fourth year when he and Hermione had been helping Harry with the Triwizard Tournament. Professor Moody had told Hermione she should think about becoming an Auror and Ron wanted so badly, even then, to impress her. And Harry? Ron thought Harry'd be an Auror or pursue a professional Quidditch career-if he lived through seventh-year that was. Come to think of it, Harry hadn't had his life threatened by anyone in awhile and Ron hadn't heard any rumours about You-Know-Who scheming to do him in. That was odd, wasn't it? Nearly every year someone was trying to kill Harry.

                Ron was unconsciously tapping his quill on the table, deep in thought. He'd have to keep a watch out for signs of Voldemort…like that shifty Professor Wen. What was up with him and Snape? And why were they co-supervising a Duelling Club? Someone cleared their throat and his thoughts were interrupted.

                "Would you mind?" Lavender said haughtily, pointing at his quill.

                "Oh, sorry…" he apologized, setting the quill onto the table. He looked over at the opposite table and met Hermione's eyes. Instead of a reproving glance, she actually smiled. He reckoned she was smirking at Lavender telling him to stop tapping his quill.

                Hermione thought Ron looked extremely cute when his ears went red in embarrassment and couldn't help but grin. Just as she was wondering what he was brooding about over at the other table, a rather young-looking Slytherin shyly walked into the study room.

                "Just what do you think you're doing, _Slytherin_?" a Ravenclaw sixth-year boy demanded.

                "To-to-to study…"

                "Slytherin Tower's down that way," another student interjected, pointing out of the room.

                Ron perked up at the mention of 'Slytherin' and looked over to Lavender and Kelly, but neither of them seemed too concerned about the students fighting. Without asking the Head Girl or the other Gryffindor Prefect, he walked over to them. "Oy, this is a study room, so either study or leave."

                "This Slytherin thinks they can study here!" the Ravenclaw accused.

                Hermione got up from her chair as well and started over to the group just as Ron said, "Anyone can study here no matter what house they are from." She was impressed with Ron's leadership and backed him up saying, "That's right. So you two, go back to what you were doing and you," she pointed to the small Slytherin boy, "go find an empty place and get to studying."

                The students obeyed the older Prefects and went to their own places. The Slytherin boy thanked them courteously and shuffled over to a far corner in the room. Hermione and Ron exchanged similar approving glances before going back to their own ends of the study room.

Meanwhile, Laura was accompanying Draco on his Prefect rounds. "You went to Beauxbaton, didn't you?" he asked her randomly. "Or was that a lie?" 

                She blushed unconsciously. "I've never lied to you," she said honestly. "I did go there. Why?" 

                "So you speak French?" he asked quickly as they walked.

                "Just as well as English, I suppose. Why?" She was curious as to how this became the topic of conversation. Perhaps he wanted to get to know her better?

                "Just wondering," he replied swiftly. They walked for a few more minutes in silence before he wondered, "Did you live there with your father after your mother-" he stopped himself from mentioning her mother's murder which they both knew his father was responsible for. 

                "No I was sent to France after she died because my father couldn't bear to look at me." 

                Draco slowed his normally quick pace to ingest what she was saying, glancing at her and wondering why. "Why did he send you away?" he wondered.

                "I think it's because I reminded him of mum and he couldn't stand looking at me…at least not until last year. I don't know…" She was rather self-conscious now after telling him this, but continued despite herself. "I lived with my Aunt's family until she sent me off to Beauxbaton. She didn't want to bother with me and told me constantly how she was doing her brother 'such an enormous favour' by looking after me." This was the first time anyone asked her about her past. She didn't know what to make of him asking her about it. "I only saw my father when he wanted something."

                 "I see." He sensed her mood saddened in response to his questions and decided it best to change the subject. "Speak some French to me," he prompted.

                "Why, do you have some kind of fetish?" she asked seductively.

                He smirked. "Maybe? Alors là." 

                She grinned, replying, "So you speak some French, I see." 

                "Just a little," he said, gesturing with his fingers how little, "un peu." 

                She was visibly impressed and he was glad to see her smile. They rounded a corner and found themselves outside a study room near Gryffindor Tower. She looked into the room and spotted Ron Weasley swotting. Taking the opportunity to show off, she erupted in French, "You know, Granger, elle a fait une grosse tête de son mec." She smiled, proud of herself and at the confused look she received from Draco.

                "She made him a big what?" he questioned.

                "Made an egghead out of him," she informed him, still smirking arrogantly.  

                He chuckled. "You'll have to teach me some." 

                "Sure thing! You wouldn't want to be in compétition with, Zabini, would you?" She looked to gauge his reaction. 

                He looked scandalized. "Zabini? I didn't think that bloke capable of higher-level thinking."

After a few weeks, Professors Snape and Wen announced that the students would finally be allowed to use their own wands. 

                "But how will you get past Wen?" Draco asked Laura, eyeing the professor who was standing near the wands as if to guard them.

                "Leave that to me." Laura smiled wickedly before going over to the professor. She began chatting up the professor by complimenting his duelling style and how she thought the reinstatement of the club was such a noble idea while Zabini reached around to steal as many wands in the pile labelled _Gryffindor_ as possible before getting caught.

               Zabibi cursed each wand separately just as Draco had instructed before Professor McGonagall showed up. Lucky for the Slytherins, they had the inside connections on everything having to do with the club and knew who would be where when.

                McGonagall was present at the club as one of the three judges. Snape and Wen were the other judges. There were only certain spells allowable, of which the students could use any combination and two matches took place at once; one male pair and one female pair respectably. Madam Pomfrey was on hand with ten of her sixth and seventh-year students that were in a co-op medical program under her tutelage. They brought their Cure-All med kits with them just in case there were injuries. 

                Whoever thought having a duelling club was a good idea must have been on something. Hazard upon hazard happened in every duel, especially when the duels were between known enemies. 

                When Draco and Harry fought each other, everyone's eyes were on them and not on the female duel between Hermione and Kelly. Hermione defeated Kelly easily and won points for Gryffindor. Draco knocked Harry backwards and when he was down, Ron and other Gryffindors ran over to him asking if he was all right. 

                However, when Draco was finally shocked by Harry's spell that was supposed to have been cursed, he was Stupefied and no one ran over to ask if he was OK. All of Draco's followers were insincere unlike Harry's. He cursed under his breath while two mediwizards-in-training 'enervated' him.

                Soon it was Kelly and Laura's turn to duel as Neville and Goyle faced off. Kelly wanted to get back at Laura so badly for snogging her boyfriend. She also wanted to look good in front of Harry. "Scared, squib?" she asked the Laura, staring her down.

                Remembering a come-back from her American roommate she said, "It's go time!"

                Harry and Draco looked on, wondering what would go down between the two girls. Draco smiled, knowing Kelly's wand was one of the tampered wands, but it soon turned to a frown when he realized Zabini had cursed Laura's instead.

                "_Diffindo__!_" Kelly screamed, aiming at Laura's wand.

                Laura screamed, "_Serpensortia_!" at the same moment and her wand turned into two small snakes. One of the snakes bit her and the other went after Kelly. 

                "_Deletrius_!" Kelly disintegrated the snake and won the duel.

                Harry didn't cheer for either girl because he was deep in thought. Malfoy was over with Laura and a sixth-year mediwitch who was treating her snakebite. Harry wondered why Laura was still with Malfoy after everything that he had done to her. He couldn't stand to think that he was using her again and causing her to be hospitalised… Who knew what Malfoy was capable of? 

                Kelly approached her boyfriend, wondering why he wasn't smiling. She guessed she hadn't impressed him at all with the duel. Oh well, at least she had won and shown that squib some real magic. "Hey," she said.

                Harry's thoughts were interrupted and he found himself facing Kelly. He tried his best to look happy. "Hey," he said back, focusing on Kelly with all his might.

As the duels wore on over the following weeks, even the Slytherins (who were thought to be behind the tampering) weren't lacking their share of traumas. It seemed that everyone wanted to out-duel their opponents by _any_ means necessary. Though the Hufflepuffs most likely wouldn't have conceived of cheating, the other houses didn't mind helping them out if it meant more entertainment. Bubbles, switched spells, skewed aims, toads instead of snakes, and transfiguring opponents instead of disarming them were popular miscalculated duelling spells.

                Since Ravenclaw won all of their games (even though the victory over Gryffindor was debatable), the game of Slytherin versus Gryffindor mattered little. It was obvious Ravenclaw would win the Quidditch Cup. That meant the outcome of Slytherin and Gryffindor's game was for house points. Also, it meant that outside of class, the only way to rack up house points was the dueling club. What started as an exciting evening activity that was just as fun to watch as it was to participate in rapidly escalated into the fiercest battle between Gryffindor and Slytherin House anyone had witnessed in the past seven years at Hogwarts.

                Ginny defeated each of her opponents, but wasn't the only Gryffindor to notice the gleaming looks between Draco and Marwood every time a non-Slytherin was wounded in a duel. She felt she was partially to blame for their terrorizing, feeling that if she had forgiven him, he wouldn't be manipulated by Marwood now. 

                Soon it was her chance to duel Marwood.

                The two sixth-years faced each other and saluted properly with swishing wands. Bowing to each other, they turned around walking the prescribed paces. 

                Laura shouted, "_Waddiwasi_!" as she aimed empty med kits at Weasley. They shot across the room and knocked the little Weasley over.

                Ginny merely had the wind knocked out of her and stood up with her wand at the ready.

                Before Weasley had a chance to counter-attack, she yelled, "_Relashio_!" and Weasley's hand mechanically let go of the wand. Laura grinned at the shock registered on her opponent's face.

                "_Accio_, wand!" Ginny commanded adding quickly a combination spell of _Mobilarbus_ and _Tarantallegra_ causing Marwood's wand to dance away from her.

                Laura grabbed her dancing wand and it wriggled in her hand.

                "_Furnunculus_!" Ginny enunciated clearly.

                Before falling to the floor, writhing in pain, she said, "_Petrificus__ Totalus_."

                Harry wanted to go over to Laura. If it hadn't been for Kelly's arm interlocked with his or the fact Malfoy was already there to comfort her as she received treatment, he probably _would have_ gone over to her. Instead, he went to see if Ginny was OK. "You all right?"

                "Yeah," she said as she was 'enervated'. "Did I win?"

                "Er- No." Their duel, surprisingly, was disqualified; as both girls used illegal moves. He explained to her how the judges had ruled. 

                She swore, shaking her head. 

                "They shouldn't have done that, but it was exciting to watch. I didn't know you knew all those spells, Ginny," he said, obviously impressed.

                "Me either," Kelly concurred.

                Draco was concerned for both of the girls even though he was absolutely turned on by their intense competition with each other. Once the boils were treated, Draco helped Laura stand up and escorted her out of the room, scowling at Potter as if it had been Potter, not Ginny who had caused Laura's pain.

                "That was sure something, wasn't it?" Neville remarked to no one in particular as the Gryffindors headed back the common room for the night.

                Ron turned to Harry saying, "It's been nagging me this whole time…It's got to be Wen!"

                "What are you talking about, Ron?"

                "I'm saying, ever since the game against Ravenclaw, Gryffindor's been on the out! He must have put a charm on Kelly during the game and then he tampered with our wands when we were having 'practice duels'."

                "That's absurd!" Hermione interjected, "Why would a professor risk his employment by doing such a thing?! And if you say he's such a _Slytherin_ supporter, why would he be helping out Ravenclaw?"

                "Better Ravenclaw than Gryffindor?" Ron shrugged. 

                Harry listened attentively to their banter, but can't prevent a smile to creep onto his face now that his two best friends seemed just like old times.

                "Plus the Slytherins have had tampered wands as well," she said matter-of-factly.

                "But look at what Laura did to Ginny!" Ron nearly shouted.

                Hermione considered this saying, "Malfoy and Marwood seemed in rather high spirits every time something bad happened to a non-Slytherin. If anyone's up to something, it'd be the two of them, not Wen."

                "Laura? No…" Harry denied, "I don't think she would conceive of such a thing." Harry couldn't believe Laura would truly conspire with Malfoy. Malfoy abused her so much last year. There was no credence to Laura being the one to blame. "If you're going to blame anyone, blame Malfoy."

                "As much as I hate Malfoy," Ron insisted, "He doesn't have the guts to do something like this. It's got to be Wen and Snape. I don't know how they'd do it, but look at them! Wen always stands there, even in class like he's planning something."

                "But he's such a strict disciplinarian," Hermione argued, "always going on about regulations and accuracy; I can't believe he would intentionally allow his reputation to be damaged." She emphasized her point by adding, "Notice, he always stops the duels before they get out of hand because he doesn't want anyone permanently wounded."

                "I just have this feeling he would," Ron countered darkly, "He would…"

A/N: 3,000 words peeps!!   
Next up Ginny confronts Draco 


	22. If You

As March drew to a close, Slytherin lost to Gryffindor in Quidditch and the Duelling Club was cancelled once again. This time Madam Pomfrey pressured Dumbledore to stop the club because her mediwizards-in-training (who had also become quite interested in duelling themselves) had all but run out. She ended up treating more of them in the aftermath of duels than getting relief from their volunteered efforts.

                After the announcement was made, Professor Wen didn't attend the final meeting. Most of the students agreed it was because he felt it was a mark against his character, that he wasn't capable of running a dueling club smoothly. Ron was probably the only student that found his absence suspicious, at least until he was absent from Defense Against the Dark Arts on Friday. 

Once the whole stress of the duelling club was over with, Ginny felt she should confront Draco about everything that had happened since the Christmas Ball. The only way she felt she could address the topic of even meeting with him was through Owl Post. As she sat at a desk in the library attempting to compose a letter, she allowed her mind to wander, remembering all the letters they had exchanged over the summer. Hoping to regain some of that in her own invitation to meet with him, she did the best she could, but the letter she ended up with was paradoxically straightforward.

                He replied the day after with a concise agreement to meet with her that afternoon during lunch break.

                Alone in a concealed section of a study room near Ravenclaw Tower, the pair met on mutual ground. She faced her fears and told him everything she had found out and about the possibility she had seen either Crabbe or Goyle using a Polyjuice Potion to look like him. "I assumed too much, I'm sorry" she confessed about the ball. "I don't know if you-but what I told you last year-about us always being friends, I want you to uphold me to that. I owe you that at least."

                Draco was silent for what seemed like hours. He internalised so much, even his loneliness without her, but now he was with Laura and she made him forget everything. She made him forget Ginny and the feelings he had for her. But now here Ginny stood in front of him and the coldness he used to feel at the mention of her name was melting. He mustn't let her get to him like that anymore! She was too good for him. He didn't deserve such a forgiving person! 

                "I don't blame you if you hate me forever," he said, turning away from her. It was hard to look at her face; into her benevolent green eyes. Even though her family was poor and she would never be good enough for his parents, he told her, "You're better off without me."

                She knew it wouldn't get much better between their families and she truthfully didn't think they could have lasted much longer with the mutual harassment from both of their Hogwarts' houses. Despite this, she went over and hugged him from behind saying, "I could never, never hate you."

                Two months had not made her forget Draco or the good times they had together, but she was able to say whole-heartedly, "We'll stay friends-allies, always."

                He turned around in her embrace and hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Ginny." He felt so stupid for letting those words escape his lips, but afterwards as he walked swiftly to Slytherin Tower, he still honestly didn't know what else he would have said.

Laura sat at a desk in the Slytherin common room finishing up her homework for her next class. Looking over the divination charts, she failed to notice Zabini approaching the desk. "You really ought to find a better man Laura…" His icy fingers trailed the neckline of her blouse from the left side to the right. "Someone who isn't infected with Weasel... You know," he leaned closer to her, whispering vulgar suggestions in French as if to impress her with his knowledge.

                "Lâchez-moi! Shove- Off!" she yelled, reeling away from his touch. 

                As if anticipating her move, he caught her by the arm, forcefully pulling her close to him.    

                "Ta gueule! Va te faire foutre!" she continued to curse at him in French as she struggled to get away.

                "And if I don't?" he questioned sensually, his hot, foul-smelling breath infesting her air. 

                "If you don't shut up, I'll-I'll tell Draco and he'll-he'll-" She told him Draco would beat him up just for the hell of it, "il t'abîmera le portrait pour un rien!!"  

                "Oooo feisty one, aren't we?" he asked rhetorically as she squirmed in his grasp. "You want me so bad, it's _aching.._."

                Draco entered the common room just in time. "Get your bleeding hands off her!!" he yelled as he stormed over to the assailant. He reached over wrenching one of Laura's arms from Zabini's grasp.

                "Just look into her eyes, you know she wants me!" Zabini declared pulling her back to him.

                "In your dreams!!" she yelled just as Draco spat, "Si tu dis ça encore une fois devant ma gonzesse, je te casse la figure!" 

                Both Zabini and Laura were shocked that Draco had said something in French, even more so that he spoke so accurately. Laura couldn't recall teaching him how to say that and was rather impressed.

                Zabini knew Draco was a Prefect, he was rich, and after declaring officially that Laura was indeed his girlfriend, he damn well better not mess with her. Before then, Draco had never referred to her as his possession, but now that he stated it outright, Zabini knew for a fact that Laura was off limits to him. He let her go saying, "Damn. When did you learn French, Malfoy?" He walked away sniggering. 

                Rather intrigued at Draco for standing up for her _and _referring to her as his girl, she thanked him. 

                He leaned in and kissed her ravenously, so much so that things heated up quickly. 

                Wanting to test him, she pushed him away from her saying, "Down boy." 

                He looked at her as if to catch her bluff, but she really was walking away from him. "What the hell's your problem? I just defended you and that's all the thanks I get?!" he said, chasing after her.

                Before she reached the portrait hole, she turned to face him replying in a soft tone, "On my time." She smiled sweetly and headed for Divination, believing in what he had said: that she was _his _girl.

                He didn't follow because he was confused by that remark. What the hell was she planning? Did she think she could just wind him around her finger? She was _his_ pet- He was not _her bloody servant_!

Later that day after classes were finished, she found Draco in his room. Without announcing her presence, she came up behind him, taking him by surprise. Using his own weight and his lack of awareness, she was able to pin him down on his bed. 

                Draco didn't resist for a second, realizing he'd be getting his reward from her as she took off his shirt.

                Between kisses she planted down his chest, she murmured vehemently, "I don't know why I feel this way…" she broke off for another kiss, "but I'm addicted to you." She ripped off her own shirt and smacked his hands away from her, pinning him back onto the bed. Her voice was ragged, but authoritative. "And if you tell anyone about this, I'll-" She didn't finish the thought because his lips were on hers as he manoeuvred to get her below him.

A/N: the next chapter is longer and unbelievably evil!!!! Beware! Bwhahhahahahaa!   
French translations: Leave me alone, shut up, go frell yourself, he'll beat you up just for the hell of it, if you say that again in front of my chick I'll smash your face in


	23. Attempting to Regain

March went in like a lion, out like a lamb as only a few more centimetres of snow ushered in April at Hogwarts. After Ravenclaw won the Quidditch Cup Finals, Harry went to the Ravenclaw party to celebrate with his girlfriend. The only other Gryffindor invited was Seamus, so throughout most of the party the two boys chatted about professional Quidditch and what the two of them were thinking about for after graduation. 

                "I want to see about playing professional Quidditch," Seamus was telling him. "I just don't know about Siena. She hasn't told me much about her plans. What about you?"

                Harry tried to avoid the question. "I don't know." He couldn't help but be jealous of Malfoy. He wanted Laura back, but felt like he hadn't a chance and he should turn all his feelings for Laura to Kelly. It helped that he didn't have any classes with Laura and that all the other lads in his class were gawking at Kelly. "Kelly's great though."

                "She sure is!" Seamus sincerely agreed before his girlfriend came back over to the couch to sit with him. He blushed, but she thought it was just because she had returned and not that he had been talking about another girl.

                "No hard feelings, eh, Harry?" Siena asked him. She apparently had lost her ghetto accent and language over the past few months, but no one really noticed or cared.

                "What? About the Quidditch Cup?" Harry enquired to make sure.            

                "Yeah, of course," she added.

                "No. No hard feelings…er-" He hated to admit he had quite forgotten her name. Thankful, Kelly appeared at that exact moment. He let out a relieved sigh.

                "Want to set off for Hogsmeade now?" she asked sweetly.

                "Sounds good to me," Harry replied, getting up from his chair.

                "Coming Seamus?" Kelly asked.

                "Do you have to ask?" he laughed and the four of them grabbed their cloaks from the chair and left for Hogsmeade.

                Once they got there, it was Harry's idea to go to the same café where he asked Kelly to be his girlfriend earlier that year. After getting their drinks, Kelly pulled Harry away from Siena and Seamus saying she needed to talk to him. She looked serious and he wondered what was on her mind.

                "What would you do if I kissed my ex-boyfriend-" she started to say.

                "What-" he began, but Kelly put a hand over his mouth.

                "SHH! Let me finish! What if I kissed my ex and the whole school found out about it and then my best friend tells you about it instead of me? How would you feel about that, huh?" she asked sarcastically, "Hmm, I'm not quite sure, but I think I'd be pretty hurt."

                "Erm…" He felt a burning sensation in his chest and throat and knew it wasn't due to the drink. He thought she might slap him and he didn't dare say something she might take the wrong way.

                Her hands were on her hips, expecting him to say something. When he didn't, she said, "Proceed…" gesturing for him to continue, "That means you can talk now."

                He swallowed before saying, "I'm sorry?"

                "Is that all you have to say?" 

                "It didn't mean anything- I swear!" He defended quickly. What else could he say? He had nearly forgotten about that kiss and now he felt so awful.

                She looked away from him as she sat next to him on the couch. Her head fell in disappointment with tears in her eyes. When she looked up again, he saw that she was near tears over this and hadn't thought before that she actually fancied him this much. He felt even worse and his feeling of guilt only increased when she said, "I thought you were getting back together with her."

                "No, you know I really like you and I hadn't seen her in awhile…and those emotions came back," he told her, trying to convince himself as well as her. He strained to put thoughts of the kiss and Laura out of his head. "I just-I wasn't thinking. I'm so sorry about this. I should have been the one to tell you. How did you-" He then remembered she had said what if her best friend told him. "Wait-Ron told you? When did he tell you this?" 

                "Right after it happened. I thought I'd give you time to tell me, but you never did." This wasn't the main reason she was angry with him, but it still bothered her and it was a more valid reason than jealousy of Laura.

                "Ron told you?" he asked again. More importantly, why would Ron betray him like that? He even asked him not to mention it to anyone.

                "That's beside the point. I don't know why you didn't tell me. If it hadn't meant anything then why wouldn't you just tell me? It must have meant something to you if you wanted to keep it a secret!"

                There was long, unnerving pause in which Kelly wanted Harry to say something, but again, words failed him. He looked to her and then at the floor.

                Tears threatened to fall, but she blinked them away, not wanting to cry over something stupid like this. Finally, she couldn't take him not saying something and stood up. 

                He looked up at her then stood next to her. 

                "I don't have time for this. I don't want to sit around and wait for things to happen. And I don't want to be second best. So either let me go or give a reason to stay."

                He caught her by the hand and she didn't move, searching his eyes. Harry didn't know what to say to get her to stay, but he thought of what Ron would do in this situation. He drew her closer to him and kissed her wistfully. Her knees gave way and she was back on the couch, only this time, he pulled her onto his lap as they kissed. One of her hands was in his and the other rested lightly on his chest. She was thankful he hadn't let her go.

On the thirteenth of April, Draco received an urgent owl from his father stating that his mother had been missing for over two weeks. "…_I didn't notify you sooner seeing as how there's nothing you can do about it, but now that I've made an official inquiry with Mr Bode at the Ministry of Mysteries. No doubt the Daily Prophet will be reporting on this case and I wanted you to be aware before people started talking.   
                Know this, Draco, your mother and I were in a fight and she left without warning. After a few days without notification of her whereabouts I decided to apparate to her relatives' home, but they didn't know where she was. I've been trying to contact others without success, so going to the officials, regrettably, was the only option left.  
                No need to worry yourself. I'm positive everything will work out for the best.  
                Keep up your grades! I don't want to see your N.E.W.T.s results to be anything less than excellent..._"

                Draco stuffed the letter into his pocket after reading it. He didn't know what to make of his mother's disappearance. How could it not bother him? 

                Throughout the week, people whispered around him, clutching _Daily Prophet _articles to their sides. He was so sick of all the whispering that he didn't even bother looking at the newspaper.

The seventh-years that hadn't already started worrying about N.E.W.Ts were officially fretting about them. The library had never been so crowded with seventh-years than this time of the year. "Do you think all the tribes of gnomes'll be on the test?" Ron asked Harry as they sat across from each other in the library.

                Harry simply shrugged, flipping the page in the N.E.W.T.s Prep-course hardback book. He scanned the index for gnomes, but didn't see it. "It's not listed in this book."

                Ron grunted, "But that's an old edition." He drummed his fingers on the table.

                Harry stopped studying for a moment, looking up at Ron. He recalled Kelly telling him how Ron had told her about him kissing Laura. How could Ron do that to him? I mean, sure things were fine with Kelly and him despite him telling her, but still… 

                Harry began daydreaming about Ron approaching Kelly to tell her that her boyfriend had kissed his ex-girlfriend. _"I'm sorry to tell you this Kelly, but after what happened to Laura Marwood, Harry kissed her." _

_                "What? When? Did you-" She sounds appalled_

_                Ron nods. "I saw him kiss her and went over to stop it. I'm so sorry." _

_                "Does that mean he's getting back together with her?" _

_                "No. Yes. I don't know." _

_                "We're both without then, aren't we?" _

_                "Yeah, I suppose." _

_                She kisses Ron and he doesn't stop her. They snog for awhile. "Well, that was fun."_

_                "Yeah, 'Mione," Ron says without thinking._

_                Kelly slaps him across the face. "What's wrong with you?! I'm not Hermione!" She storms out of the room._ Yeah, Harry thought, snickering at the thought. Ron was too infatuated with Hermione to think about moving in on anyone Harry fancied. He thought about how fretful Hermione had been at the possibility some other girl was moving in on Ron and he thought her concerns were incredibly unsupported.

"Have you read the _Daily Prophet_ today?" Hermione asked Harry and Ron during breakfast the following week.

                "No. Why?" Harry asked her, knowing she hadn't expected them to have read it.

                "Look at this!" Hermione said, slamming the paper on the table, nearly knocking over Ron's juice. She pointed to an article featuring a picture of Narcissa Malfoy. "**_Malfoy Found Murdered_**," the headline read. 

                "_Mrs Narcissa Malfoy, reported missing last week, was found murdered outside of her cousin's home last night. The Ministry of Mysteries' official report cited that no specific incriminating party has been named. 'At the present time, we aren't releasing any leads or evidence that might be construed as incriminating to any particular party,' an unnamed Ministry of Mysteries representative stated. The only details of the case that were released to the press were assurances that no Dark Mark was seen either over the Malfoy mansion or their relatives' homes. Malfoy, wife of Lucius Malfoy and mother of Draco Malfoy…_" 

                Harry skipped ahead a few lines.

                _"'The Malfoys have been known to have marital disputes,' one middle-aged wizard affirmed, 'I wouldn't be surprised if Lucius killed her himself.' Another wizard of quality insisted, 'Lucius drove her to suicide.' Mr Lucius Malfoy has been unwilling to be interviewed and his official statement regarding involvement in his wife's case was adamant denial of the allegations."_

                Once Ron had a turn to read the article as well, neither he nor Harry could speak. Hermione pointed to the picture of Lucius saying, "He looks like he hasn't slept since she disappeared."

                "It looks like he's been up worrying about what to say to the Ministry after having murdered his wife," Ron countered darkly.

                Harry looked at the picture again, not knowing what to believe. 

                "But when did this happen, I mean, when was she actually murdered?" Ron wondered aloud. 

                Harry, cottoning on added, "Do you think it could have been when Professor Wen was absent?"

                "I hadn't thought of that." Hermione whispered, "Why else would he have been absent? Maybe it was Wen who killed her."

                "See, I told you!" Ron jumped in, ardently. He sounded like he was proving how smart he was, when in actuality he was simply overjoyed that Hermione agreed with him. 

                Before Harry had a chance to say something, Peeves floated precariously around the room singing, "_Revenge, revenge, revenge. Roger gets revenge…"_

                "What's he saying?" Ron asked curiously.

                "I think he said something about revenge," Neville put in.

                "Very good," Hermione sarcastically remarked.

                "I mean about Roger… who's that?" Ron asked. "And why would he be getting revenge?"

                Harry perked up a bit. "I know what he's signing- it's about Laura's father-his name was Roger!"

                Hermione glanced at Harry, also curious. "You mean Peeves thinks Roger Marwood's to blame for Malfoy's murder?"

                "Maybe. I'm not sure…" Harry said.

                Ginny leaned over, having overheard their conversation added, "Harry, you have to agree it's Marwood. He was the one who wanted his daughter to kill Draco last year! He has the motive to kill her-maybe he got Laura to kill Malfoy's wife!" she suggested enthusiastically. 

                "No-no way, Ginny, she wouldn't do that!" Harry obstinately refused to agree. 

                In a faded tone she said, "Maybe she would," but Harry ignored her. 

Meanwhile Draco lazily opened his eyes, wishing it wasn't a school day. He looked over to the right of him to see Laura's naked shoulders lying next to him. Instead of hurrying out of bed to change for class, he lingered for a moment, placing kisses on her back and neck to wake her up gently. "Wake up, love," he whispered gently, brushing her long black hair across her shoulders.

                She turned her head towards him opening her dark eyes slowly to meet his and smiled before closing them again, going back to sleep.

                He finally took his hand away from her back as he kissed her nose and forehead. He slid out of bed, dressed in school robes, and left his room for a late breakfast. When he went into the common room, whispers surrounded him which wasn't unusual. He didn't even mind that the topic of conversation was 'Malfoy', at least not until he entered the Great Hall. For some reason, nearly all the students looked at him and whispered suspiciously to their friends. What the bloody hell was wrong with them? Had they found out about his mother's disappearance? He noticed some Hufflepuffs and Potter's gang examining the newest _Daily Prophet. _He hadn't read it yet, but figured he should see what everyone was talking about. 

                Before he had a chance to retrieve an abandoned copy, Professor Snape slid over to him. "I tried to get a hold of you last night, but you somehow slipped through my grasp."

                "Hmm…probably had Prefect duties to tend to," Draco slyly excused himself.

                "I have something important to tell you. Come with me to my office, now," Snape commanded. 

                There was something in the professor's tone that concerned Draco. As they exited the Great Hall, he felt the eyes of all the students following him. Something was definitely wrong and it couldn't be just his mother's disappearance. 

                "Dead? Are you sure?" Draco choked on the words after Snape informed him of his mother's murder.

                "Quite sure, Draco," he said with regret. "I've already excused you from classes for today. I suggest getting something to eat and owling your father perhaps?"

                Draco stood there for a few minutes, staring blankly at the professor as if he were dreaming. 

                Snape walked to the door, waiting for Draco to exit ahead of him. Draco finally got his senses together when he heard Snape say, "Let's go." He shuffled Draco out the door and started walking back to the Great Hall, but before they got there, Draco said, "I'm not hungry."

                Snape nodded in understanding and allowed Draco to return to Slytherin Tower alone. Dead? Dead… He shook his head a few times, barely comprehending the fact that she was gone. What had happened? He thought for a moment that perhaps the fight his father spoke about in his letter had led to him murdering her, but that couldn't have been the case. He knew his parents fought, but never to the extent of acting violently against each other…well, except for the one time his mother threw a pair of scissors at his father…but they had made up afterwards.

                Instead of going to Slytherin Tower right away, he went to owl his father. Confused by the emotions he felt after learning of her murder, he was afraid that he would be killed as well, but rebuked the thought as a selfish inclination. His mother was dead. He asked his father whether he should come home for some sort of funeral rite, but knew his father would tell him to stay at the school anyway because it was safer. He didn't really want to go home at all, even if his father wanted him to.

                When he came back to his room, Laura had just stepped out from the bathroom in a towel with wet hair. "Not exactly ready for class yet...haven't used a drying spell on my hair yet…" She bustled around trying to get ready for class, as he fell onto his bed staring off into space. When she was all ready to go, she asked, "Ready?" He didn't respond either way, so she flopped on her stomach next to him. "Is everything all right?" He still didn't reply. "Draco…" She went to touch him, but he smacked her hand away, not wanting her to possibly merge thoughts with him.

                "I'm not going to class today. You go ahead," he told her impassively. 

                She was taken aback at this. "Are you sick? Maybe you should see Madam Pomfrey-"

                "I'm not sick."

                She tilted her head sideways asking fiendishly, "You want me to hang about with you?"

                "No."

                Bewildered by his impassiveness and his decision to wag classes for the day, she knew something was wrong, but didn't want to push him. She knew pushing him would get her nowhere, so she got her belongings and exited.

                In the common room, a few other stragglers were still hanging around. A fellow sixth-year approached her with a _Daily Prophet _in hand. "Might want to read this," she said before rushing off to gossip with her friends. 

                "Oh hell," Laura murmured after reading. No wonder he- She couldn't think about this, not now. She couldn't falter or think about anything but schoolwork even though she wanted to go back to his room and comfort him. That was not what he wanted right now. He needed to be alone. She needed to go to class and do her work.

A/N: Oooooo! So what do you think so far??


	24. The Games We Play

Passed down from generation to generation, Draco knew a secret passageway from Slytherin Tower to a small hut owned by hags devoted to the Dark Lord. He didn't want to be around—or available at all for that matter—when Laura returned to Slytherin Tower after classes, so he made sure to get his ass out of there before three pm. 

                He walked around Hogsmeade for awhile with his hood shadowing his face, wishing he had an invisibility cloak or knew of some invisibility charm for the simply pleasure of anonymity. He desperately wanted to blame someone for his mother's murder. It was so much easier when there was a face. The easiest place direct his anger was at Laura Marwood. At the same time, the feeling of helplessness and despair warred within him. He was nearly killed last year, who's to stop someone from going through with it this year? He might as well save them all the trouble and do it himself.

                 Eventually, he tired of walking and entered the Three Broomsticks. He found a place at the bar and Madam Rosmerta came over to him. "What can I get you, sir?" she asked hospitably.

                "Gin and tonic," he ordered, removing his hood.

                "A bit young to be ordering such a strong drink, wouldn't you say?" she wondered.

                Draco glared at the woman. "Eighteen? Well, if you won't serve me-"

                She took out her wand and performed an age-check to see that he was indeed eighteen and by British laws, old enough to drink. She apologized, but he only grunted in response. Another employee grabbed her elbow, while whispering in her ear. She looked back at Draco, who couldn't care less what they were talking about as he fiddled absentmindedly with a straw. Rosmerta came back with his drink saying, "I'm so sorry about your mother…" 

                He ignored her. 

                "Drinks are on the house tonight, dear."

                Thinking the woman was barking mad, he merely nodded his appreciation for the free drinks. When he got around to ordering a malt scotch, it was after dark and he was under-the-table-piss-ass drunk. Rosmerta wasn't about to serve him another drink, but he banged on the table. "Jus- one mo'- before I h-head off, luv…"

                She conceded for the fifth time and once he had drained the glass, two rather burly-looking warlocks, helped him from the barstool and threw him out the door. "Oy! That 'snoway duh treata customer!" he slurred, shaking a fist at the closed door.

                If only had had brought his wand with him…Wait-hadn't he brought it with him? Confused, he searched his cloak, but by the time he found it, he had forgotten why he wanted it in the first place. He merrily walked back to the old hags' hut and wandered back to Slytherin Tower.

                Awaiting him in the common room were three sixth and seventh-year girls. Pansy and her favoured blonde females wanted to give their condolences to Draco over the death of his beloved mother in the way they knew best. Barely awake enough to notice them, he stumbled into his room, heading for the toilet where his stomach rid itself of alcohol. He then washed his face and fell into bed. The three girls headed by Pansy decided at that moment to enter his room and 'comfort' him.

                He murmured incoherently in his sleep as the girls had their way with him. Once or twice he was conscious enough to realize they were there, but didn't know what they had done to him until the next morning when he awoke with a splitting headache. Everything came rushing back to him. He wondered how stupid he had acted when he was drunk and remembered that his mother-Gods! He didn't even want to think about that. Bleeding Marwood must've killed her! And at that moment he saw the three girls in his bedroom half naked. He felt used and unusually violated. 

                The look on Pansy's god awful face enraged him. "You filthy slag! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!"

                She only obeyed because she knew that even hung-over, he could still kick her ass. 

                Knowing he wouldn't be excused from classes that day, he showered thoroughly, wanting to get their filth off, and changed into clean clothes. Never before had he felt so disgusted with anyone in his life. He couldn't believe Pansy and her Slytherin gang capable of something like that. Then again, it was Pansy and he _could _believe she'd do it, but to him? He shook his head. Jogging down the moving staircases, obviously late, he nearly ran into the last person he wanted to see. 

                "Watch what your doing!" Potter yelled at him.

                "Sod off, Potter," he said back to him, without much feeling as he picked up his own books and walked into the classroom.

                Harry looked back at Malfoy curiously, trying to determine whether he was truly affected by the current events. Could he actually feel pity for Malfoy? That son of- Harry stopped mid-thought and discovered he _did _feel bad for the blighter. He sorted through the parchments Malfoy had knocked onto the ground and picked them up, heading for a classroom at the end of the hallway.

After Professor Vector assigned three pages of problems for homework, Ginny noticed Marwood waiting for Draco to show up and walk with her to classes, but five minutes later, he still hadn't shown up. In many ways, she wished she could blame Marwood for the death of Draco's mother, but knew it was unsound and completely absurd to suggest that she had anything to do with it, logically speaking. It sure sounded good though the first time she made that postulation during breakfast yesterday, but she knew it was unfathomable. Even though she greatly disliked Laura and still envied her to some point, she wasn't the type of person to hold grudges. She and Draco were friends again and if her friend was going out with Marwood, then she figured she ought to at least be civil with the tart. She also thought perhaps she could find out some clue from her as to the real killer behind Narcissa's murder.

                "I don't think he's coming," Ginny spoke up as she approached Marwood.

                "I don't think so either," Laura replied, looking at Ginny blankly. She wanted to be there for him, to go to him, but didn't want to remind him of his mother's death. She felt as if it were her fault-her family's.

                Ginny sensed that Marwood was rather concerned for Draco and this worried her as well.

                "He doesn't want to see me," Ginny heard Marwood add as an afterthought as she gathered up her things to go to her next class. She figured Draco probably blamed Marwood and though this thought should have lightened Ginny's spirit at the hope the two of them would break up so she could get back with him, it actually worried her even more for some odd reason.

                Ginny walked down the opposite hall and found Draco walking her way. Without hesitation, she took his arm and walked with him to his class. 

                Draco barely felt her arm linking with his. It was as if his entire being had been anaesthetized by the alcohol he had consumed the previous night. 

                Apologetically she said, "I'm so sorry about your mum! Is there anything I can do for you? I'm so sorry..."

                All the confused emotions he dammed within himself threatened to be released, but he callously told her, "Go." He shrugged her away from him and entered his class alone. 

                Ginny didn't understand. She could tell he was depressed and that he needed her to be there or at least Marwood, but he wouldn't listen to her. Sighing, she went to her own class, thinking about what she could possibly do for him.

At lunch that day, Laura arrived late and saw Draco at the Slytherin table, but didn't feel she should go over and sit in the empty spot she normally occupied. She looked over to the Ravenclaw table where Finnigan sat between Kieran and Patil. She looked over at the Gryffindor table where Harry and his friends sat chatting. When she looked back over at the Slytherin table, Draco caught her glance and turned back to Goyle, chatting. She exhaled and folded her arms under her breasts.

                Nearly all the students were looking at her, but she wasn't aware of their eyes until that moment. Some people seemed like they were incriminating her, others just looked interested as to what would play out between her and Draco, awaiting the scene like a television drama, just to be entertained.

                "Hey, maybe we should ask her to sit over here," Hermione said to Harry. He looked over and saw her standing at the entrance with her arms crossed, not knowing what to do. He just turned back to Kelly to chat with her instead. 

                "Maybe we should," Ron supposed as he glanced at her lone figure. With raised eyebrow he met eyes with Hermione and she seemed all for it, so he yelled, "Oy, Laura!" He waved her over.

                She dropped her arms and conceded, heading for the Gryffindor table. It'd been over a year since she last sat at that table. She sat next to Weasley, thanking him quietly. 

                 Draco was thankful Laura hadn't sat next to him. He could barely think of her let alone see her. He didn't want her messing with his mind or trying to heal him with a touch. It was a weakness to show emotions and if he was to be attacked by someone like his mother had, he needed to be alert. Avoiding her was the answer, he assured himself. 

                "So…" Granger broke the silence. "How are classes?"

                "Fine." Laura wasn't exactly keen on talking with Granger since she was the one she saw snogging Harry in the library when she first came back to Hogwarts. 

                "You have Arithmancy, correct?" Granger persisted. "I think Professor Vector is absolutely stimulating in class discussions, don't you?" she continued, not minding that Laura wasn't answering. 

                "Boriiiinngggg," Weasley countered. "I'd much rather listen to Trelawney's morbid prophecies than Vector. Arithmancy, blah…"

                "You mean her hallucinations? Really Ron, I thought it'd have dawned on you by now how she's never made an accurate prediction _ever_."

                Laura thought it'd have been nice if the elves had poisoned the food so the whole lot of them would keel over during the meal, but alas, she found the food appetizing. She proceeded to eat as quickly as possible, making a note that Harry hadn't even glanced in her direction since she came over. She didn't know which was more awkward: sitting at her ex-boyfriend's table with him ignoring her and his friends making small talk or sitting with Draco with nothing but silence and incriminating stares.

Supper that evening wasn't much better. Laura went straight over to the Gryffindor table to eat, but that didn't mean she was any happier about the situation. Weasley and Granger continued their debate over professors, classes, and homework making the excuse that they were trying to involve Laura in the conversation when in actuality they only wanted to talk with each other.

                "Plus, Professor Vector rarely assigns homework which you so utterly despise doing," Granger went on again, still arguing about how much better Arithmancy was compared to Divination.

                "But making up horrible accidents is a great deal more fun than Arithmancy problems!"

                Laura eventually noticed the Weasley in her year who was sitting further down the table with a Hufflepuff girl. She looked over at Laura from time-to-time as if she were talking about her. Laura sneered a bit in her direction the next time that she looked over and after that, Weasley didn't look at her anymore. She exhaled; forcing food down, while making a list of things she needed to do after eating in order to keep her mind off Draco.

The next few days followed in similar fashion until one day at breakfast the Marwood owl swooped in to deliver a letter. It was her father's oldest owl, rusty looking with malting feathers. The poor feathered creature looked weather-beaten and worn out as it landed on the floor next to Laura. She took the letter from its beak and just as she pulled out her wand to disintegrate it, she noticed the letter wasn't addressed to her. "Draco?" she gasped, confused. She examined the handwriting which was coiled lettering she didn't recognize. 

                The Gryffindors she sat with gave her a questioning look when she said Draco's name, but she hid the letter in her cloak before they had a chance to see it was a letter to him.

                "How is Malfoy anyway? He's probably having a hard time what with his mum dying and all," Granger questioned sympathetically.

                "I don't know," Laura replied.

                Weasley asked without forethought, "Did your father kill her?"

                "Ron!" Granger exclaimed.

                Laura didn't need Granger defending her.

                Harry perked up finally at this. "That's a rather forward question, don't you think?"

                "Hey, somebody's got to ask it, right?" Weasley said, turning back to Laura. "So, did he?"

                Laura noticed Ginny staring expectantly and no wonder. She probably thought Laura's father _had_ killed her. She probably hoped Laura would admit it too. "You're pathetic!" she exclaimed, standing up, "The whole lot of you!" She hadn't finished eating, but she wasn't hungry anymore. She took the letter out of her cloak and clutched it in her hand as she drew near the Slytherin table. 

                Draco looked up when she came up next to where he sat. Without words, she thrust her hand forth with the letter towards him. He took it slowly, giving her a curious look. "What's this?" he asked. 

                "From my father's owl…seems the bird mixed us up." She stood there as he opened it because she was curious as well, especially as to why a letter to him was brought by her father's owl.

                "Why would a Marwood owl have a letter for me?" But just as he said this, he recognized the twisting lettering. It was his mother's.

                For some reason Draco's eyes had trouble focusing as he began reading the letter. _"Wishing you best of luck on the N.E.W.T.s…how proud I am of you…will be glad to see you this summer…all my love…"_ He could almost hear her cool voice as he read and her fading image in front of him. His vision became increasingly blurry and in one swift movement, he got up from the table and pushed past Laura, exiting the Great Hall.

                Laura hesitated only a moment before rushing after him, leaving all the students witnessing the scene wondering what had passed between them. The Slytherins chuckled malevolently. 

"Draco!" Laura called as she chased after him. "Draco, wait up!" She ran down the hallway and pulled him by the arm. She tried to turn him to face her, but he was stronger than her and able to shrug her off without letting her see his face. 

                "Draco, please…" She wanted to know what was in the letter that got him so riled up. Whoever it was that used her father's owl had something to say to him and she felt it was her right to know as well. She followed him into Slytherin Tower, tailing him and begging him to face her. He went into his own room and Laura closed the door behind them in the dark. 

                He collapsed onto the floor next to his bed. Laura hesitated for a moment before taking out her wand to say, "_Lumos_," but before she had a chance, he said, "It-it just doesn't make sense." 

                She could barely make out his form in the darkness, but she felt her way over to him and said softly, "_Lumos_." She couldn't believe what she saw when her wand lit up. Tears were covering Draco's cheeks. She watched as he pulled his knees to his chest. She sank to the floor next to him.

                Laura felt like it was her fault even though she had nothing to do with it. "I'm so sorry Draco," she said, her voice full of emotion. She sat next to him in his room, not knowing what to do.

                "I don't understand why—" he choked. "It's entirely _their fault_!" he yelled, blaming their fathers. "It'd be better if they were both dead!" He banged his fists above his knees. "Kill each other off…"

                She knew he was rambling because of pent-up emotions, but she rather agreed with him. Their fathers were both to blame for the maladjusted lives they led. She knew they hadn't the power to kill each other's father let alone their own.

                "Sure I resented her and often times didn't like her, but she was my mother! I loved her! Gods-and I never appreciated her! I never showed her respect! I never told her-" he broke of in choking sobs. "This is not fair! She didn't have to die!" He wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

                Laura couldn't believe he was crying in front of her. This was Draco Malfoy; the most arrogant git at Hogwarts who wouldn't be caught dead showing weakness in front of another person, actually shedding tears in her presence. She pulled him to her and held him as he cried. 

                She understood. 

                She knew. 

                She didn't know why. 

                It wasn't fair to either of them. 

                "At least you knew her as long as you did," she said as he calmed down. She brushed a hand through his hair saying, "I barely remember mine and the memories fade daily." 

                "I'm sorry-I shouldn't-" he said, looking into her eyes apologetically. 

                "It's OK," she replied impassively. 

                He pulled away to examine her expression more thoroughly. 

                "It's OK…really…" she repeated, thumbing away a forgotten tear.

                Their gaze became more focused and soon she found Draco's lips on hers, but contrary to every time prior to this, his kiss was soft.

                Gently Draco's hands went to the side of her face as her lips parted to give him full access to her. She was now kneeling over his leg, pressing her body against his chest. He broke away to let her breath, moving his lips to her neck. "Draco," she sighed. He had never taken so much care with her.

                Though she wanted him to speedup, the agonizingly unhurried way he was taking things was layered in thoughtfulness. "Riana…" he exhaled.

                His tenderness was causing her to realize something dangerous. Regretting it before she did it, she pulled away from him saying, "I don't think this is working." 

                "What do you mean?" he gasped for breath.

                "I'm supposed to hate you, but I can't." And it was true. After all the years of being conditioned to hate, brought up to despise, and bred to abhor the longstanding rival of her surname, she couldn't deny the fact anymore, even if that meant death.

                "What? Why not?" He thought he had misunderstood what she said.

                "Do you remember before…when I first came back to Hogwarts-after we…-when I was crying? Do you want to know why?" 

                "Of course I want to know." He swept a hair from her face.

                She separated from his grasp and stood up. It was hard enough to say, but looking at him as she did so would be unbearable. "It was because…" She turned away, crossing her arms. "That was when I realized that I'm in love with you." She turned back around to gage his reaction. He was still on the floor with slightly wider eyes. "And that's why this won't work any longer. I can't pretend anymore because it hurts."

                "How did that happen?" he wondered aloud.

                "I don't know but it did." By verbally admitting her love, she had condemned herself and he knew this. 

                He stood up finally and took a step towards her. "I suppose we're in deeper trouble than I thought." He ran a hand through his hair.

                "How's that?" she asked, withholding tears.

                "Because…I think I'm in love with you too." He looked deeply into her eyes and saw she could barely believe it was true. "_Nox_," Draco said, holding her hand with the wand in it. The room became dark once again and he pulled her into a hug, holding her close to him. Now, they were both condemned.

"I can't believe you said that to her," Hermione chided Ron as she watched Laura run after Malfoy. 

                "Well someone was going to eventually."

                "Really," she said in a shirty tone, "Well remind me next time someone needs comforting not to invite you to help."

                Harry, who had been really trying to stay out of their arguments, had still heard nearly every word since they were quarrelling so loudly. "They must have been like this when they were together, because I honestly can't recall them acting differently," Kelly said.

                He smirked saying, "Like this, but not as bad. You should have seen them this summer. They couldn't keep their hands off each other."

               "Like this?" Kelly asked, letting a hand rest lightly on his leg under the table, slightly above his knee. "Or more like this?" she asked, moving her hand up to his thigh.

                "Like that…" Harry replied softly, trying not cause people to look at them. He definitely liked where this conversation was heading.

                "Right Harry?" It was Hermione's voice and she sounded insistent.

                "I'm sorry, what?" Harry asked.

                Hermione huffed, "You haven't listened to a word I've said, have you?"

                "No," Harry said with a slight smile, he glanced quickly at Kelly who wore a similar expression. 

                "I said I think we should have a talk with Hagrid," Hermione repeated, sounding like it was the fiftieth time she had said the same thing.

                Harry was about to ask what they wanted to talk with Hagrid about, but decided it best not to ask. "After classes then?"

                "Bring your dad's cloak," she whispered.

A/N: OK peoples, that was the longest frelling chapter yet! 3,663 words! So BE HAPPY! Hehe ^^  
Next up, R/H angstiness (yeah baby!) and ::sings a song:: Harry gets some…


	25. We are the Lucky Ones

Hermione prudently asked Harry to bring his invisibility cloak with him when he and Ron met Hermione at Hagrid's hut after classes. She must have known how long their talk with Hagrid would last and that they'd need it for sneaking back to Gryffindor Tower. "You want to tell us why we're here?"

                "Because, Hagrid knows all about the Malfoy and Marwood families and you want to figure out who murdered her, don't you?" Hermione asked the pair. They shrugged in response and entered Hagrid's cabin without further questions.

                Their half-giant friend courteously invited them in and served them tea while fang whined for attention and Hermione pet him sweetly. After small talk, they got down to the business at hand. "Nasty business, that," Hagrid said. "Takin' it out on their wives like that! There's somethin' wrong with a man that'd do a thing like that."

                "So the rivalry goes back earlier than just Lucius and Roger?" Hermione asked scholarly.

                "Centuries…Long before they were born. I'm not exactly sure what set the two families off, but it's been a nasty rivalry even before You-Know-Who was in school."

                Ron and Harry exchanged glances.

                "But about Roger…what can you recall about him and Lucius specifically?" Hermione pressed.

                "Oh, well those two made it personal even tho' they had quite a bit in common. Both of 'em sons of rich families, both in Slytherin…" He paused to take a sip of the hot tea. "Let's see…" He set the cup onto the saucer and scratched his beard. "Roger courted the girl Lucius was keen on during their fifth or sixth year. I don't remember which. Anyway, since Lucius couldn't have Lucretia, he took her best friend Narcissa as his wife. Narcissa actually hated Lucretia and betrayed her. She cursed her so that she wouldn't be able to have children, but those kinda spells are complicated. 

                "When Lucretia gave birth to a girl, Lucius was livid with his wife. He still wanted Lucretia and felt, 'If I can't have her, no one can' and killed her, leaving Roger with only a daughter as his heir. 

                "How do you know all of this, Hagrid?" Ron wondered.

                "Well, one hears all sortsa things down at the pub," Hagrid replied jokingly. "All right, well, I shouldn't have told yeh all that, but yeh can believe that what I've told yeh is true."

                "Thanks Hagrid," Hermione said gratefully. She was truly intrigued at all the information they had received. 

                Hermione had been correct about needing the invisibility cloak because it was after dark when they finished with Hagrid. "We're not all going to fit," Harry informed them as they attempted to squeeze under the cloak. "Hermione, would you mind staying a bit longer with Hagrid?"

                "Not at all," she said, still stuck under Fang who was deadweight on top of her, sleeping.

                Ron smirked at Harry saying, "It'll take her just as long to escape from Fang as it will for us to get back to Gryffindor Tower."

                Once he and Ron returned to the Gryffindor rooms, he offered the cloak to Ron saying, "Here, go get Hermione and leave it in your room 'til tomorrow. I'm going to turn in early tonight. I'm exhausted."

                "Erm- all right, Harry," Ron replied, not thinking it at all suspicious that Harry would want to go to sleep early. He didn't get that Harry was actually trying to do him a favour. When he got back to Hagrid's cabin, he paused a moment outside the window, peering in on Hermione and examining her features. It seemed like ages since he had free reign to do so. He remembered when they were in second year and they had come to Hagrid after he had tried to curse Malfoy for calling her a mudblood. Now Hermione's bushy hair was manageable and soft to the touch. He missed feeling her hair wind around his fingers.

                "I miss him Hagrid," Hermione was saying within the cabin. "I feel like we can't even be friends anymore with the way we fight. It's like even when we're together, we're apart. When he's standing right next to me we're still separated. And to think that we'll all be graduating soon and we'll have to say goodbye. I just don't think I can bear it!"

                Hagrid listened to her intently, knowing that the best thing for him to do was to be a sympathetic ear.

               Ron still stood outside the cabin thinking about her. The dim light from the cabin glowed gently on her figure and she was beautiful. Part of him was scared at what he was thinking about her, the part of him that ached at the thought of her not always being around. They fought way too much. They would never work. It was good that it had ended. But that irritating and frightening part of him that felt like they were meant to be together nagged at him to the very core of his being telling him he never wanted to be parted from her. But was she the one? There were so many other people in the world, so many choices, and so many things to come…

                "Even if we did get back together, I wouldn't want to be his chain. We're young and we have so much time. I wouldn't want to stop him from seeing other people…" Hermione stopped suddenly, feeling bad that she had been laying all of problems on Hagrid. She apologized and he consoled her saying he wouldn't have it any other way. "Harry should be back soon…" she said numbly.

                Just as she said this, Ron had broken his reverie and knocked on Hagrid's door. It started to rain. Hagrid opened the door to find no one there. "Who's there?"

                Ron took off the cloak. 

                Hermione's face registered slight shock that it wasn't Harry, but Ron explained that Harry decided to sleep early. "I'm sure he's sleeping," she replied wryly after they bid goodnight to Hagrid and she pressed closer to Ron in order to fit under the cloak.

                "What do you mean?" he asked, trying to put his hand somewhere more comfortable without hunching over as he clasped the cloak in front of him. The more comfortable place happened to be on Hermione's waist and she either didn't notice or didn't seem to mind.

                "I mean, he's probably with his girlfriend in Ravenclaw Tower or meeting her somewhere."

                "But there's the conundrum, Hermione," Ron said slyly, "we've got his invisibility cloak."

                "Conundrum?" She chuckled, "Mighty big word for a Weasley."

                "Are you complimenting me, Miss Granger?"

                "Of course not!" she denied, "I was just saying-" She saw a huge grin on his face and couldn't help but smile as well. "Oh, never mind!" 

                When they entered the castle, they didn't make a sound and safely returned to the common room without being detected. Removing the invisibility cloak, Ron's hand remained on her waist a moment longer, but when she glanced at it, he removed it and headed for his room. "'Night Ronald," she said teasingly.

                "'Night 'Mione." He gave her one last look with his signature goofy grin and closed the door to his room. He sighed, resting his head on the inside of his door. "I love you," he said to his room.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room the next day spending their Saturday discussing Narcissa's murder instead of doing something recreational or constructive. After Hagrid talked to them for what seemed liked days about the two families, Harry wanted nothing more to do with hearing about Laura.  

                "But Harry's got a point Hermione. Why _should_ we care who killed her?"

                "How would you feel if it were your mother?" Hermione countered.

                "Don't say that! And besides, my mother isn't a stuck-up—"

                "Enough! Honestly!" Hermione exclaimed. She turned to Harry. "You should care! How do we know the murderer isn't out for you next, Harry?"

                "People are always trying to kill you," Ron agreed.

                "Voldemort's the one out to get me, Ron. Since when do you care about Malfoy?"

                "I don't!" he insisted vehemently.

                 "I think whoever did it has it out for you too, Harry," Hermione said anxiously.

                "Why would the person behind a Malfoy murder want to kill me? Last I heard that Malfoys were Death Eaters—Voldemort's followers—so why would they-"

                "Stop saying You-Know-Who's name!" Ron interrupted.

                "Fine, You-Know-Who's followers. It's too bad Malfoy's mother died, but bad things happening to bad people is better than bad things happening to good people. Look, if you two are so keen on finding out who did it, go for it, but leave me out of it." Harry didn't want to hear anymore about Malfoys and Marwoods. He wanted to forget the whole thing and think about more light-hearted thoughts like Kelly. He got up from his chair and exited through the portrait hole.

                "So I guess that just leaves us to find out who did it," Ron observed.

                "I guess so…" Hermione answered blankly.

Harry found his ever-so-studious girlfriend reading for class in a semi-occupied study room near Ravenclaw Tower. Instead of going straight over to her, he sat with Seamus and Siena, admiring her from a distance. She had a jumper tied around her waist, her white blouse was slightly unbuttoned, and she sat cross-legged as she flipped the pages in a large book. When his eyes took in the candied lollipop she was sucking on, he realized why Seamus had picked that spot to sit in even though his girlfriend was sitting right next to him. When she began twirling her hair absentmindedly, he decided to go over to her.

                "Hey," he said, "You busy? Want to go somewhere?" 

                "Er, not really and hell yes," she replied eagerly, thankful to be rescued from her homework and wanting to be diverted. He took her by the hand and led her to an empty cloakroom so they could snog. 

                After a few minutes, he broke away to catch his breath. "What's that flavour?" he asked breathlessly.

                "Oh, er-strawberry," she answered, remembering the candy she had been eating before. "Do you like it?"

                "My favourite," he replied, leaning in for a longer, more heated kiss. 

                Her hands found their way to his dark black hair as he grabbed her Ravenclaw tie which was hanging loosely around her neck using the tie to pull her closer to him. 

                Buttons on shirts were undone with haste and Harry heard a voice in his head telling him he needed to back off though his body was telling him to keep going. They were on the floor of the cloakroom by then and Kelly was all in favour of continuing their tryst. "Kelly," he breathed heavily, his voice ragged. 

                "Don't stop, Harry," Kelly panted, pulling him back towards her.

                He pulled away before he lost all control and said, "If you're sure about this…we should go somewhere else…"

                "What? Why?" 

                "Because I want it to be special," he said honestly, sitting up, "not in a cloakroom…"

                She caught her breath, smiling at him. "You're so sweet Harry." She kissed him chastely on the cheek.

                "I'll…Hold on real quick. I have to ask Ron something. Erm, meet me outside Gryffindor Tower in ten minutes."

                "Make it half an hour and I'll be there," she responded. She wanted to change into something a little less comfortable and little more scandalous.

                He kissed her once again and rushed off to find Ron in the Gryffindor common room. He found Ron sitting surprisingly at the same table as Hermione, though not close to each other, studying. "Hey Ron, I need to talk to you…alone."

                "Er, sure Harry." Ron said, getting up from the table and walked towards him. "What's up?"

                Harry whispered resolutely, "I was wondering if I could borrow your room for a couple hours…"

                "Why-" Ron began, but he saw the fervent look in his best friend's eyes. "Oh…you and Kelly?" he asked.

                "Yeah…" Harry said, blushing slightly.

                "Congratulations mate," he said slapping him on the back. "You can use my room, just don't muck anything up."

                "Thanks," he said quickly, sprinting out through the portrait hole to wait for Kelly.

                Ron shook his head as Harry disappeared partially happy for his friend and partially envious of the famous Harry Potter. It wasn't fair that he and Hermione had gone out longer than Harry and Kelly had and here Harry was going to do it before him. But of course Harry always won, even in the getting a girlfriend first race, so why should he be surprised that Harry would be the first one to go that far with a girl? 

                "What was that all about?" Hermione asked as she went over to him.

                "Oh, nothing…just Harry wanted to borrow my room tonight for a few hours."

                "Why's that?" she wondered innocently.

                "Why do you think?" Ron deviously countered, taking a step towards her. It wasn't as though he hadn't thought about doing those kinds of things with Hermione; it was just that they had never discussed it. 

                Just then, Harry entered with Kelly and they made no mind to the other people in the common room, walking straight into Ron's room.

                "If you're not going to tell me, then it's obviously not that big of a deal. I guess I'll just have to ask Harry," she said, starting towards Ron's room. 

                He stopped her by grabbing her arm. "Look, I'll tell you…" He leaned in closely to her, whispering in her ear what was going on between Harry and Kelly.

                Her eyes widened, unbelieving. "Are you serious?" she whispered back to him in his ear. Her cheeks tinged pink because Ron had said that certain three-letter word to her and it made her think about them instead of Harry and Kelly.

                "It's not like they're not old enough," he whispered back.

                She collected her thoughts and focused on the actual situation instead of thinking about her and Ron. "But that's still a big step in a relationship," she murmured.

                "It is." He faced her directly, with his hand still on her arm, pulling away slightly so he could look into her eyes instead of whispering in her ear. He said directly in a semi-provocative tone, "Why, are you scared of it?"

                "No. It's just that I think you should be committed to that person and that they should respect you and trust that they would accept the consequences of such an act…" she said, blushing furiously.

                "But you're scared," he insisted, obviously no longer talking about Harry and Kelly.

                "Maybe. But so what? It's not like you ever have either!" she nearly yelled back at him. She didn't want him to put everything on her when they had been talking about Harry. What was he playing at?

                He was shocked at how she could turn it around so that the fear was his and not hers. "Then what would you be afraid of then? I mean-if you and someone else that never-" His cheeks turned a deeper red than hers and couldn't finish his thought.

                They stared at each other without saying anything further for a few minutes trying to read each other's thoughts, but eventually the silence was unnerving. Hermione didn't want to shy away from the staring contest because that would mean Ron would win and she didn't want that.

                He stood there, trying to figure out what she wanted and hoped she wasn't angry with him for bringing it up. At the same time he figured they'd talk about it eventually and was glad they had finally at least _started_ to discuss it.

"Since when did Ron buy fortune cookies?" Harry wondered as he went through Ron's Hogsmeade candy, examining the box with cookies in it.

                "Do you think he'd mind if we stole a few?" Kelly grinned, taking up a random fortune cookie. 

                "Probably not…" Harry said also taking one.

                "I just want to read the fortune," she said, breaking open the one in her hand. "He can eat the cookie," she giggled.

                "What does yours say?" Harry asked, trying to grab it from her unsuccessfully.

                She ran from him while he attempted to steal her fortune. He ended up grabbing the tie holding her hair up and her blonde tresses tumbled down in curls. "It says, '_Dream as though you'll live forever; live as though you'll die tomorrow_'," she recited. "What about yours?" She sat on the bed.

                He looked at his fortune saying, "Take advantage of opportunities in front of you."

                "It does not!" she said playfully, grabbing one of the pillows from the bed to smack him with it.

                He dropped the fortune that actually read: '_A change is coming your way_' and grabbed her arm that was pummelling him with the pillow, pressing her back onto the bed. They resumed the affectionate kissing they had been sharing in the cloakroom and he asked her once again to be certain, "Are you sure about this?"

                "Yes, I'm sure. I love you Harry."

                "I love you too," he said. Laura Marwood was officially the farthest thing from his mind.

Ron dozed off in his chair at a table in the common room and Hermione reappeared after having taken a bath. Her heart melted at the sight of a sleeping Ron, wanting to hold him in her arms as he slept, but knowing she couldn't do that anymore. She approached the table and sat next to him, opening a book she was reading for leisure. He woke up about half an hour later. "You're not about to spend the whole night here are you?" she asked quietly.

                "What time is it?" he asked drowsily.

                "After 11:30."

                He rubbed his eyes. "They've been in there over four hours," he said with a little bit of irritability in his voice.

                "They're probably asleep." She asked hesitantly, "You're not going to go in there, are you?"

                "Would you?" he rhetorically questioned.

                "Well, where are you going to sleep then? I know it's the weekend, but you can't just sleep in the common room."

                He looked at her hopefully.

                "Now don't get any ideas!" she said after seeing the familiar look in his eyes.

                "I wasn't…" he lied.

                "Why don't you bunk up in Harry's room? I don't think Seamus or Neville will mind."

                Nodding sleepily, he agreed to her idea and she helped him up the stairs to the boys' rooms.

A/N: Oooo drawing closer the finale! Graduation Ball coming upon us!


	26. Things Get Mucked Up

Soon it was the week of the N.E.W.Ts and all the seventh-years were excused from normal classes in order to take the tests. The week was agonizing, but afterwards, the seventh-years were more laid-back than during any of their prior years of their schooling, except perhaps first year. Having the N.E.W.Ts out of the way was such a relief that many of the seventh-years stopped caring about their normal classes since the major swotting was out of the way. 

                Draco headed towards Laura's last class which happened to be Potions with the Gryffindors. Behind him, Kieran and Finnigan walked to a study room.

                "His hair is so gorgeous," Siena sighed, referring to Malfoy. "If only I could run me fingers through that blonde hair just once…"

                "I'm right here you know," Seamus said jealously, pulling on her arm.

                "Oh! You should do you hair spiked like that," she said, messing with his brown hair attempting to spike it up. "And you could bleach it too! We learned a hair colour changing spell awhile back…I think I remember how it goes. Let's try it! Please—!" 

                "Anything for me bonny lass," Seamus grinned.

                She clapped her hands together nearly squealing at the thought.

                Draco glanced behind him when he heard Kieran shrieking. He raised an eyebrow at the pair, but continued forward to where he should have found Laura waiting for him. He spotted Ginny and asked her if she saw Laura leave.

                "I've no idea where she is," Ginny answered in a nice-to-see-you-too attitude adding wryly, "probably wagging class."

                "You know where she is," Draco prompted insistently.

                Ginny exhaled. "She got up in the middle of Potions and ran out of the room. I think she said some excuse, but she left without permission and Snape yelled at her to come back, but she didn't," she told him with a shrug. "Oh, there she is." She gestured a little further down the hallway where Laura appeared from a girls' toilet.

                Draco thanked Ginny without anyone else hearing him and went over to Laura. Without words, he slipped his arm around her waist and carried her books with his other hand and the two of them walked back together to Slytherin Tower.

                Ginny watched them walk away together and smiled despite herself. She was glad that things were looking up for them and that Draco didn't seem as upset anymore about his mother. But she couldn't help listening to the nagging voice in her heart, warning her that if Draco's father learned of his true relationship with Marwood, he might harm his own son to keep them apart. 

                If what everyone said about the family rivalry and what information she had pestered her brother and Hermione to reveal from their visit to Hagrid's was true, the potential for disaster was only increased. Was there any way she could possible help Draco? She decided that if her brother and Hermione were interested in solving the murder case, her best bet was to tag along and find out any information she could because if they figured out who was really responsible and they had enough proof, they might be able to put that person away for good. If the criminal was in Azkaban, she might just save Draco's life.

"How do you think the N.E.W.Ts went?" Harry asked Kelly after offering to carry her large History of Magic book. They followed Seamus and Siena down the hallway.

                "Honestly? I think I failed," she said simply.

                "That's impossible! You're one of the top students in our class and you're in Ravenclaw. I think it's a rare day a Ravenclaw fails anything…well…besides Potions, but that's just because Snape hates anyone who's not in Slytherin," Harry replied sincerely.

                "Except maybe Siena," Kelly laughed. "He likes to pick on her and make her stay after class."

                Harry shook his head. "I don't want to think about that!" He sounded disgusted. "Snape and her…not a picture I wanted in my head! Thanks a lot, Kelly!"

                "I'm not the one who started it!" she teased.

                When they arrived at the study room, the pair sat across from each other and started on their homework. They were probably the only seventh-years in the study room who were actually doing work, but they were good students like that.

                "I'd offer to do your homework for you, but I'd probably end up losing you points instead of helping," Harry said.

                Kelly found it a little odd how Harry had been acting around her as of late. He seemed to be more willing to offer to carry her books or do things for her, but not in a way like he was trying to impress her. Maybe on some level he felt like he owed her something or perhaps he just wanted something from her? Maybe after telling her he loved her he wanted to back up his declaration? Either way, she liked the change.

                She smiled. "Why would you do a thing like that?"

                Harry shrugged with a smile curling about his lips.       

                "You know, Harry, all you have to do is ask," she said.

                "What are you talking about?"

                "You know perfectly well what I'm talking about," she said with a flirtatious grin. "Stop acting like such a girl, you sissy."

                Harry kissed her then, showing his girlfriend that the famous Harry Potter wasn't afraid of anything.

Even Hermione, who was usually the obsessive swot, backed off from studying and enhanced her curiosity of the Malfoy and Marwood family histories once the N.E.W.Ts were finished. "Why are you following me?" she asked Ron as she headed for the library after classes ended for the day.

                "I'm not following you. I just want to find out about the rivalling families," he partially lied, jogging to catch up to her.

                When they got to the section of the library that had volumes of historical wizarding families, they were surprised to find Ginny sitting in a corner with stacks of books on the table.

                "What are you doing, Ginny? You can't possibly have so much homework that you have to study right after classes."

                "I'm looking over the old _Daily Prophet_ articles I thumbed through last year about the Malfoy and Marwood families. I just thought a refresher might point me in the direction of some clues." She looked up from her work to meet the stares of her brother and Hermione. They looked doubtful. "I want to find out who's responsible for killing Draco's mum just as much, if not more, than you do, so count me in on your investigation!"

                They exchanged glances as if they were detective partners deciding whether to believe an informant. "Well, show us what you've got so far then," Hermione commanded.

                "Here're the articles I found last year. Not much to them, but they give a good overview of what happened during the investigation behind Lucretia Marwood's murder." She pushed the articles towards them, allowing them time to read.

                "I don't know, Hermione," Ron said after reading. "It sounds like there's plenty here to assume it's Marwood, but why would Wen be absent from school during the week of her murder? He's got to be connected to this somehow."

                "Maybe he was ill?" Hermione suggested.

                "A very convenient illness then."

                "What if we ask Madam Pomfrey about it? If she treated him or knew about him being ill, then that would make a substantial alibi as to why he'd be absent from class," Hermione said wisely.

                Ginny tagged along as the pair headed for the hospital wing. 

After about ten minutes of waiting for Madam Pomfrey to be free to chat and asking her a few well-placed questions, they found out Wen had complained of a stomach-ache, but didn't stay for treatment. "Odd, wouldn't you say?" Ron asked Hermione with raised eyebrow, not even looking at his sister.

                "Odd yes, but that still doesn't convict him of murder," Hermione argued, also not acknowledging Ginny.

                "What's left then? Searching through his belongings?" Ron rubbed his hands together, eager to search through a teacher's personal things.

                "I don't think so!" Hermione refused. 

                "What about talking to him?" Ginny finally got a word in.

                "Oh, that'd really get us somewhere!" Ron sarcastically remarked. "You think we could just walk up to Wen saying, 'Hello Professor, tell us, how did you go about murdering Mrs Malfoy last week?'"

                Oddly, Hermione considered it. "But if we talk to him separately, we might each get different pieces of information…"

                "What are you saying Hermione? Speak English," Ron muttered.

                "If we each took turns talking to Wen about the week of the murder, he might give us different responses. If we are able to catch inconsistencies, we might catch him in a lie and then we'd have evidence of…" she broke off, realizing she had been talking too loudly. Readjusting her volume level she continued, "…guilt or conspiracy."

Their idea was a good one, but all their attempts to catch Wen in a lie failed. This didn't lessen Ron's resolve that Wen was somehow involved with Narcissa's death. "I still say, he's the one who did it."

                "Give it up, Ron," Hermione disagreed. "We don't have sufficient evidence!"

                "Just because he gave us the same story doesn't mean he's telling us the truth!" Ron countered heatedly. "He's probably planning to do us all in!"

                "You're paranoid!" Hermione huffed. "You're draw conclusions without any facts to back them up!"

                After clearing Wen's name, there was no doubt in Ginny's mind that Roger Marwood had murdered her. Since there was nothing to do, but hope neither Roger nor Lucius went after Draco, she freed herself from the endless rows between her brother and his ex-girlfriend. She decided to spend more quality time with Janet and the Hufflepuffs.

_Voldemort stood in front of a mirror with a halo of azure light hovering around it with Lucius Malfoy at his side. "Look into the mirror, Lucius," he commanded darkly._

_                The scene that played before him in the mirror was the worst thing imaginable. He witnessed his son professing his love for a Marwood. "_Gods-'Riana! I love you_," Draco was panting. _

_                Lucius turned away from the sight, anger flaring in ever fibre of his being, so much so that he was unable to speak._

_                "This will all end after the death of Harry Potter," Voldemort promised. "After he dies, I'll execute the girl."_

_                Lucius relaxed a bit. "Thank you, my master," he said, bowing._

_                In a swirl of cerulean fog, the scene altered and a similar scene played before Roger Marwood. Through the conjured mist, Laura moaned, "_I love you, Draco_…"as Roger stood beside Voldemort in front of the ghostly mirror. _

_                He growled at the mention of his enemy's son. _

_                "He will die, Roger," Voldemort craftily sneered in Roger's ear, "After the death of Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy will die by my hand."_

_                "Your wisdom constantly astounds me, my master," Roger replied, bowing._

Laura was kicking the sheets away and off of her; her eyes moving swiftly under their lids in REM sleep. She moved her mouth like she was trying to scream but something was preventing sounds to come out in more than a murmur. 

Sweat chilled on Draco's forehead causing him to wake with a start. He looked next to him where Laura's cold figure lay, still as death. Her lips were an icy shade of blue, and when he leaned close to listen to her breathe, he wasn't able to make out even a soft breath. 

                _"No." _

                Something hit the side of his leg…

Draco was awakened by something kicking his leg.

                Laura's hands clutched at the bedspread and finally her eyes opened. Her heart was beat wildly, her hair was tossed about recklessly, and tears mixed with sweat as she panted in fear, "They killed you-right in front of me-I couldn't-and then-oh gods-Draco-you were—"

                Now it was his turn to comfort her. Her nightmares haunted her far worse than his. He knew it was just a dream and he could push his dream to the back of his mind, but why was she so affected? She was thoroughly frightened, frightened for _him_. He soothed her, allowing her to cling to him as though her life depended on how tightly she held him. He smoothed her untamed hair as she cried, "I can't lose you-you're the only one who-I'd rather die than-can't lose-"

                "It's OK… Everything will be OK…" he repeated the lie over and over hoping it helped calm her, "It's OK." What were they going to do after he graduated? Was there any way to protect her-to protect himself after leaving the school?          

                Thoughts emanated between them, though Laura tried to withhold things from him. "What is it that you're not telling, Riana?" He felt she was holding something back and if there was any way he could help her, he wanted to know.

                How could he possibly know whether she was or was not concealing something from him? "Are you developing some telepathic capabilities I don't know about, Draco?"

                "Maybe? Maybe not… It's just- I get this feeling from you that you're not telling me everything and I'm used to feeling open when you connect with me…"

Her wide dark eyes blinked away from his and stared at her lap as she partially lied, "I also dreamt about Voldemort saying he was going to kill Harry. That's all."

                With his arms still around her, he was able to assess she still hadn't told him everything, but didn't want to force it out of her. He figured she was gaining more control of her thoughts now, so perhaps the next time she healed someone, they wouldn't be able to enter her thoughts anymore. 

                Whatever it was that she was hiding, it must be horrible…

A/N: Some people were asking about character motivation... My synopsis is that **few people**, if any, **are perfect in real life**. 

Harry still has feelings for his ex (who doesn't?), but he really fancies Kelly now. Also, he's a teenaged boy with raging hormones. (If you aren't old enough yet or it's been awhile since you were that age, imagine it.) Kelly really fancied Ron at first, but he had a gf, so it was hands-off after that. She is, however, currently infatuated with Harry! She wasn't going to go out with him at first because she was worried about her grades and Quidditch, but Quidditch is over now and so are the N.E.W.T.s. Therefore... ::mischievous grin::

As far as Draco and Laura are concerned, I leave it up to you to decide how **you** feel about them. I really, really want to tell you, but I'm forcing myself not to! Just three words I could tell you would reveal the whole thing…No! I won't give in to the temptation!

I don't want to give away the plot by telling you every detail of everyone's love-life. I'm trying to make this story as realistic as possible and not FLUFF. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Ginny, etc. are "real" in my story and I'm trying to write accordingly.   
**If you want fluff, go someplace else.** ;-)

Ron and Hermione? Oh dear, those crazy kids! They are currently reverting to the ol' fightin' duo… That's why I had them break up. I wanted their chemistry to be illustrated in a more fun way. **Happy is boring, evil is fun!** (You can quote me on that by the way ::grins::)

And Ginny? She's not all that she seems. You'll see. You'll all see! BWHAHHAAHAAAHAHAAAAA ::raises an eyebrow, shrugging:: Don't mind me…


	27. Things Get Even More Mucked Up

It was a few weeks before Graduation and it was common knowledge that there would be a ball following the ceremony. Harry broached the topic with Hermione as they ate lunch one afternoon. He and Kelly both wanted his best friends to go together because they knew that's what would make them happy. 

                "But everyone's going, Hermione," Harry slyly remarked, dipping his spoon into his soup.

                Hermione couldn't understand why Harry was making such a big deal out of the ball. "I'll probably just skip the whole ceremony. They can owl me my diploma." She gulped down the rest of her drink. 

                "That's crazy!" Harry exclaimed, insisting, "You've been looking forward to it just as much as the rest of us." He exchanged looks with Kelly.

                Ron wanted to interject that Hermione didn't want to graduate because she would miss Hogwarts, but he didn't want to embarrass or anger her.          

                "I think they've made it mandatory," Kelly added after meeting Harry's eyes, "At least the ceremony for sure… They'll probably make an announcement about it soon."

                Hermione sighed, not wanting to think about it. She didn't mind the graduation ceremony so much as the speeches. She didn't want to be in tears in front of the whole school. "As far as the ball, I'm not going." She got up from the table declaring, "I'm going to be late."

                "Late for what?" Ron mused as he watched her leave the Great Hall. 

                Harry whispered to Kelly his idea. She grinned. 

                Ron turned back to his lunch and didn't even notice his best friend conspiring. 

                Harry finished his lunch about the same time as Ron and the three of them headed for their next class, Defence Against the Dark Arts. When they entered the classroom, the three of them noticed Hermione was already in her seat next to Susan Bones. 

                Harry and Kelly knew Hermione hadn't been concerned about being late; she just wanted to avoid the topic of the Graduation Ball. Harry and Kelly exchanged knowing glances while Ron was just confused.

After class, Kelly approached Ron to discuss Potions while Harry chatted with Hermione with about a Charms question he had. They only had about twenty minutes before their next classes, so Harry and Kelly had to plan it quickly. 

                "Well, I'm off to AP Arithmancy," Kelly said, going over to give Harry a swift kiss on the cheek and a wink for good luck. "See you later."

                Once Hermione and Kelly left for Arithmancy, Harry grabbed Ron by the shoulder, steering him around a corner as they walked to Divination. "Guess what mate: I just spoke with Hermione and she confessed she really wants you to ask her to the ball."

                Hope gleamed in Ron's eyes as he blinked, unbelieving. "She did?" He cleared his throat. "When did she tell you?"

                "Just a minute ago." Harry said earnestly. "So, are you going to ask her?"

                "Er, yeah maybe…"

It took Ron another day to think about not _whether_ he was going to ask her, but _how_ he was going to. He found Hermione sitting in one of the large chairs in the common room before supper and sat on the couch near her. He sat there for about half an hour before asking her, "So, the Graduation Ball is Saturday…anyone ask you to go with them yet?"

                "I already told you I'm not going," she said simply, flipping a page in the book she held.

                "But you heard Dumbledore this morning. We have to go. It's mandatory. "

                "I don't care," Hermione said, still not putting down her book to even look at him. "I'll fake sick or something." She flipped another page even though she wasn't really reading anymore. "It's just a dumb tradition."

                Now Ron knew that was a complete lie. She was obsessed with traditions and probably knew the exact year that tradition was started. Boldly, he stood up and walked over to her. "This is so stupid. We have to go-we may as well go together." She didn't protest when he seized the book from her hand. "Come on, Hermione, I promise I won't ruin the evening for you. It'd be better than going alone."

                She exhaled slowly before looking up at him. "I suppose so."

                Ron grinned not bothering to withhold displaying his happiness. He bent over and kissed her on the cheek. "Now you've got to find something to wear," he joked, confident that she had already found a dress months ago. He sprinted up the stairs to the boys' dormitories to tell Harry the news, unaware that he still held her book.

                Hermione sat beaming when Ginny skipped down the stairs from the girls' rooms appearing as cheerful as Hermione felt. "What has you in such high spirits?" Hermione asked her. She hadn't seen Ginny so happy in a long time; probably not since she met up with Malfoy in Diagon Alley. 

                "Nothing…" Ginny hummed wistfully.

                "Do tell," Hermione pleaded, going over to her.

                "All right…" Ginny gave in as she slowed her pace to the portrait hole. "Stephan Nott asked me to go with him to the Graduation Ball."

                "He's a Hufflepuff, right?" Hermione questioned, trying to recall him.

                "Yes. Dark hair, dazzling blue eyes…" Ginny exhaled, blushing a deep crimson.

                "Oh, I remember him now! He's in my Arithmancy class! He's absolutely charming, Ginny." She was glad to see Ginny thinking about someone other than Malfoy for a change. "I guess I'll be seeing you at the ball then."

                "Oh, so Ron's finally asked you?" Ginny grinned wider and hugged her squealing, "That's wonderful news!"

                "What do you mean?" Hermione raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

                "Nothing, it's just that-I mean, I'm so glad you two are back together," Ginny cheered just before exiting the common room.

                "We're not-" Hermione started to say, but Ginny had already disappeared through the portrait hole. "Oh forget it!" she exhaled, letting her arms drop back to her sides. It was then that she noticed her book was missing. "Ron…" she chided, clicking her teeth. Shaking her head, she sighed in the empty common room before chasing down her book.

Harry's scar burned on his forehead as he tried to fall asleep the night before the graduation ceremony. The throbbing pain caused him turbulent nightmares as he tossed and turned in fits. It felt like a searing brand all through his head. Voldemort must be near, he thought. 

_                Why now? _

_                Why here? _

_                What was going to happen? _

                He was scared and didn't want to face him. Last time, Cedric died and Harry didn't want to be the cause of any more deaths. Cho was grief-stricken after Cedric's death…because of him... He didn't want something like that to happen again. 

                Gratefully, the throbbing pain caused him to pass out, but disturbing nightmares followed. He forgot most of the content when he woke up a few hours later, but he was left with the feeling of despair and fear for his own life. He was afraid for his best friends, and oddly for Laura as well though he hadn't even thought about her for ages. 

                Something bad was going to happen and it was going to happen soon. Was there any way he could stop it or at least keep his friends safe? He felt the foreboding darkness of the world before the dawning of the sun surround and envelope him. Would it ever be morning?

                It was around two in the morning when Harry stumbled out of Gryffindor Tower, oblivious to where he was going and not even thinking of his invisibility cloak. Wandering around the hallways in almost a dreamlike state, Harry didn't notice anyone in the hallway. Suddenly, he was hit a blinding vision flash and staggering, he grabbed onto the first thing in front of him.

                "Harry!" Kelly gasped as both of her boyfriend's hands clasped her shoulders for support. She pulled him off in order to see his face. He was pale and visibly exhausted. He obviously hadn't slept a wink. She put a caressing hand to his temple detecting a radiating heat from his otherwise pallid face. "You're burning up-" she began, but his scar caught her attention. 

                The reddened mark had started to bleed. "Oh, Harry, you're bleeding!" She went to wipe it away with her forefinger, but just as her finger touched the scar, it singed her. "Ouch!" she cried out.

                Harry seemed to come out of his delirium at that moment. His eyes widened. "I don't know wh-" he mumbled.

                "We should get you to the hospital-"

                "No-please-" His eyes begged her not to take him there. "I don't want anyone to-it's nothing-"

                Against her better judgement, she conceded, "All right." Ignoring the pain surging in her burned finger, she allowed him to lean the bulk of his weight on her, collecting him into her arms, as she took him to Ravenclaw Tower. The common room was vacant as she helped him into her private room. She would have been embarrassed by letting him into her room if he had been fully conscious, but since he was damaged and she was worried about him, she didn't mind. 

                Slowly, she tottered towards her bed, with Harry nearly deadweight in her arms as she supported him until she could lay him onto the bed. She slipped his shoes off and went to fetch a cold towel from the bathroom, which she placed on his forehead. The bleeding had ceased, but she was still worried about the loss of blood. He winced at the sensation of the cold compress, but she knew it was necessary to get his temperature down. 

                "Kelly-" he started to say, but she shushed him as she moved to the other side of the bed, grabbing some pillows to make a bed for herself on the floor. She felt he needed to have space and didn't want to disturb him. When she approached her bed again for an extra blanket, he grasped her hand mumbling, "Stay with me."

                She smiled wordlessly and neglected the pillows on the floor, situating herself next to Harry. She rolled onto her side facing him, wrapping her right arm over his waist. His left arm fell on top of hers and his eyes closed. Still deeply concerned, she gazed on him, finding it hard to sleep. She knew he'd probably never tell her what was wrong—what he saw in his nightmares, but she hoped with her there he'd be able to sleep now, at least for a few more hours.

When Kelly awoke the day of the Graduation Ceremony, she was surprised to find he was still asleep and that his arm was encircling _her_ waist. Not wanting to wake him, she attempted to free herself stealthily, but failed. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to wake you," she apologized softly.

                "Kelly?" he asked, confused. He blinked a few times as if trying to get her features in focus. Looking around, he took in the room and the Ravenclaw colours. When he realized where he was, he expressed his ignorance of the previous night's events. "What happened?"

                "You were wandering around the hallways last night when I found you. Your scar- it was bleeding," she informed him.

                "Bleeding?"

                "You wouldn't let me take you to the hospital wing, but I think we should go there today just to make sure your fever's down."

                "I had a fever?" He then remembered the main contents of his dreams. Voldemort was close. Laura was in danger. He had to warn her. But how? "Hospital…" he mumbled. "No, I'm fine."

                She put a hand to his forehead, feeling his temperature had indeed gone down. "You're sure?"

                "Yeah, I'm sure." He thanked her for everything she had done for him. Her lips parted as she was about to ask him about the nightmares but he leaned in, placing his lips to hers preventing her from speaking.

A/N: Next up, the Graduation Ball!

You think you've seen evil? You ain't seen nothing yet!! ::proceeds to laugh manically::


	28. Graduation

The day of the Graduation Ceremony and the following ball found Draco Malfoy and Laura Marwood in unusually chipper spirits. After the emotional roller-coaster Draco had been through over the past month or so, it would have been expected for him to be numb or irritated, especially after Snape informed him that his father would be in attendance at the ceremony. Knowing he would see his father should have shaken him—with the ongoing investigation into his mother's murder, there wasn't substantial evidence to incriminate either his father or Laura's, so his father was allowed to come to the ceremony. Draco knew it was only a matter of time before someone was convicted and didn't want to see his father at all. It should have made it worse that he had admitted his feelings for Laura, but he somehow wasn't fazed by the inevitable confrontation. His father wouldn't kill him surely…and there wouldn't be anything to gain from bumping off Laura either.

                But he wasn't thinking about any of that today. Today he was going to graduate from Hogwarts. It was the last day he would wear the school-issued uniform and strut about the hallways with his Prefect badge. Sentimental rubbish really…but it felt good. He felt proud of his accomplishments even though Slytherin hadn't won House Cup this year. He was graduating with Honours, highest scores in the class, second, obviously, to know-it-all mudblood Granger. He finished tying his Slytherin tie when Laura entered his room in a whirlwind, carrying the dress she planned on wearing for the ball.

                Laura wasn't thinking about her nightmares or the evilness inherited from the Malfoy and Marwood lines. She wasn't thinking about how their parents would kill them once the truth came out or that Draco's father would be at the ceremony. Draco informing his father that he and Laura were planning to stay together was the farthest thing from her mind as she burst into the room. When Draco didn't say anything, she exclaimed exaggeratedly, "My hair looks awful doesn't it?!"

                Draco raised an eyebrow, examining the thorny tresses done up in a hornet's nest type style.

                "You can tell me the truth, you know! My hair looks awful!" she shouted, throwing her hands into the air while still managing to hold her gown in her left hand.

                "It doesn't," he said, restraining a chuckle.

                She dropped her dress on a vacant chair and ran into his private bath to look in the mirror. When she saw the mess of hair, she screeched, "I'm never letting Bianca do my hair _ever_ again!" She pulled hair down, but it tangled and yanking it harder in frustration only caused it to coil worse and worse. 

                "Who's that?" Draco asked from just outside, chuckling at his girlfriend's hair trauma.

                "Bianca Hellman?" she asked, still fumbling with her unruly hair. "A sixth-year…Rookwood's girlfriend?" she questioned to see if the name rung any bells with him. Realizing he hadn't a clue she said, "Never mind." She gave up and pulled out her wand. "Bugger this." She recalled the counter-spell for bad hairstyles, cursing herself for not remembering it sooner. When she reappeared from the lavatory she doubted the look on Draco's face. "What?"

                "You never cared about your hair before," he said, moving closer to examine her restored locks of dark shoulder-length hair. "What's gotten into you?"

                She smiled craftily as he moved behind her with her hair folding through his fingers like silk. "Not _you_," she replied tauntingly. 

                "What?" he gasped; now facing her. The look of scandal on his face was priceless.

                She ran her index finger down the side of his face, outlining his features laughing. "I'm only joking."

                His expression remained serious. "That wasn't funny."

                She tilted her head to the side, still laughing. "Yeah it was."

                He couldn't help but laugh with her. He didn't know why she could make him feel like this, but she did. He felt so carefree and natural with her. "You are absolutely wicked! You know that, don't you?"

                She was still laughing as she grabbed her dress. "I wanted to see if this was all right," she said, sobering a bit. 

                She began undressing to try it on for him when he said, "You really shouldn't change in front of me."

                "Why not?" she asked, feeling about for the zipper on the back of her skirt.

                "Because I'll just want to tear it off of you," he replied honestly.

                "Then, perhaps I should." She continued to change only more slowly this time.

                "Ahh, you torment me!" he cried, "You wicked, wicked girl!" moving to 'assist' her remove her knee-high socks.

Ron waited an hour for Hermione to finally come out of her room, but it was not in vain. He had never seen her look so beautiful before in his life. Her hair was partially done up with ribbons while the rest cascaded down in perfect ringlets. He took in her entire figure in more than one scan.

                "Well don't stand there gaping like an idiot, we're going to be late," Hermione commented, breaking him out of his trance.

                "You look absolutely stunning, Hermione," Ron finally managed to say as he linked his arm with hers.

                "Glad you approve," she giggled. When they entered the Great Hall, she noticed most of the seventh-year lads were wearing dress robes while the girls made all the extra effort to find suitable ball gowns. She spotted Harry and Kelly and the two of them approached their other best friend.

                The four of them chatted a bit before they saw the entire Weasley clan, save Charlie who wasn't able to make it. 

                "Congrats, Ron," Percy said, slapping him on the back. "And you too, Hermione."

                Hermione nodded her thanks before being crushed into a hug by Mrs Weasley.

                "Can't believe you made top ten in the class though," George laughed.

                Fred feigned motherly joy, "Our ickle Ronnikins is all grown up."

                Mr Weasley looked as though he nearly had a heart attack when he learned Ron placed ninth in the class. He was proud of his son's improvement though. "I suppose Hermione's been a good influence on you," he observed, winking at Hermione.

                "Bet she has…" Fred nudged Ron in the arm while he and George exchanged mischievous glances.

                "Bet she helped him in more ways than one," George added.

                "Shut it, you two!" Mrs Weasley said before hugging a blushing Ron. "Congratulations, dear."

                Ron's already red faced turned an even darker shade of red when his mother kissed him on the cheek. 

Kelly's parents waved her over to them and she informed Harry, "These are my parents. Er… Mum, Dad, this is Harry. You know…the boy I was talking to you about."

                "Nice to meet you," her father said, stretching out his arm towards Harry.

                "Nice to meet you, Mr. Andersson," Harry replied, shaking his hand.

                Both of her parents were so proud of her for being named Head Girl _and_ Quidditch Captain _and_ winning Ravenclaw the Quidditch Cup. She was also one of the top students in their class. 

                Mrs Andersson was all in tears, overly emotional at her daughter's graduation as if it were her wedding. "You've been taking good care of her, haven't you?" she asked Harry.

                "Erm- yeah, I guess…" Harry was beyond nervous now. He ran a hand through his hair.

                "Oh Merlin!" Mrs Andersson gasped, "How on earth did you get such an awful scar?"

                Harry didn't know how to respond. "Er…"

                "Mum, stop it! He's Harry Potter." Kelly was extremely embarrassed.

                "_The_ Harry Potter?!" Mrs Andersson exclaimed.

                "Why didn't you tell us?" Mr Andersson asked excitedly with a huge grin on his face.       

                "Because I didn't think it was that big of a deal…" Kelly responded, blushing.

                "You're in safe hands with such a powerful and famous wizard as Harry Potter," Mrs Andersson said, directing the comment at her daughter, but making sure Harry heard. She looked over the pair conscientiously. "You know dear, with that green dress of yours, your eyes match Harry's! Oh, you two look so cute together! Your children are going to be even cuter!"

                "Mum, we're not getting married…"

                "There's plenty of time for that later!" 

                "I think the ceremony is starting mum…" Kelly interrupted. 

                "Oh all right dear," Mrs Andersson responded.

                "Congratulations honey," Mr Andersson said, hugging her.

                Kelly grabbed Harry by the arm and dragged him away from her parents. "I am so sorry about that, Harry," she apologized sheepishly. "My parents can be a total nightmare sometimes."

                "I thought they were nice."

                "They met here at school during my mum's fourth year; my dad's fifth. They were both in Ravenclaw and they expected I would marry someone from school as well. I don't know how they get that kind of notion in their head, as though things are still the same as they were when they were in school."

                "Don't worry about it, Kelly."

                "I hope they weren't completely awful."

                "They weren't." Harry was suddenly glad his Aunt and Uncle weren't going to be at the ceremony. They sat in their previously assigned seats, which were in alphabetical order.

                Draco looked around for his father, but he didn't show up. He was partially glad for it and felt a relief of tension as he received his diploma without the watchful eyes of his father boring into him.

After the parents left, the students who hadn't changed into their formal wear or who needed to pick up their dates who weren't in seventh year went back to their house rooms while the professors enchanted the Great Hall to decorate it for the ball.

                A few hours later, the first couples arrived. The youngest person there was probably Neville's girlfriend who was only a fourth-year Gryffindor. Crabbe and his girlfriend Bulstrode entered after Zabini who had settled on Parkinson as his date, though she insisted _she_ had settled for _him_ when the Hufflepuff she was despoiling decided not to go. Goyle tagged along without a date and slouched at a table in the back.

                Dean and Padma went as an unofficial date while Justin Finch-Fletchley and Parvati went just as friends. The four of them sat at the table next to Lavender and Terry Boot which was the designated Ravenclaw table. Ginny sat with her date, Stephan with other Hufflepuffs she recognized but didn't know that well. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Kelly went in together and found extra chairs at Seamus and Siena's table close to the dance floor. 

                Fashionably and purposely late, Draco and Laura pretentiously entered the already full hall. Most of the males were gawking at Laura's outrageous and rather inappropriately cut red dress which was rather tight and short with a slit running up the side. The females were doing their best to ignore her or gossiped about her. "Why is everyone looking at me?" she asked Draco.

                He looked around the hall and then at her. Without warning, he grabbed the material of her dress in order to pull it down to cover her.         

                "Not here!" she exclaimed at his seemingly improper touch, blushing furiously.

                "Don't you think your dress is a little too short?" he whispered viciously in her ear.

                "Well you didn't seem to mind earlier," she replied simply, not intimidated by his change in demeanour. 

                 "Well I do now." He unfastened his cloak, putting it over his shoulders saying, "Here-just-put this on."

                She shrugged it off declaring, "No, it's too hot in here." 

                He shoved it back over her, trying to cover her up again. 

                "Back off!" she exclaimed, tossing the cloak at him. "Don't you like how I look?"

                "I don't want people looking at you like a bloody piece a meat!" He argued as they left their belongings at a Slytherin table.

                "Didn't you look at me like that last year?" she countered slyly.

                That remark caught him slightly off guard. "That's beside the point…" he defended himself. "Things change…"

                "Hmm…jealous are we?" 

                "Shut up!" He concluded as he reached for her hand to draw her onto the dance floor.

Harry didn't even notice when Laura and Malfoy sauntered onto the dance floor because he was diverted by the tall blonde in his arms. 

                Kelly was looking over at the table Ron and Hermione occupied. They were still engrossed in their staring contest and she wondered who would win. "Harry, you know your two best friends?"

                He was too occupied ogling his girlfriend to hear what she had said. "Hmm? What?"

                "Ron and Hermione?" she repeated.

                "What about them?"

                "They're pathetic!" She gestured over to the table.

                "Come think of it, I've noticed that a long time ago." He chuckled.

                "Should we?" she wondered.

                "I think we should," he replied.

                "But not right now," she added quickly. She was too content in his arms to want to carry out their prior plan.

                Harry seemed to be on the same track of thinking when he reached back to take the chopsticks out of her hair, letting it tumble down her back. He ran his fingers through hair, admiring it. "You want to go somewhere?"

                "What do you have in mind?" she asked seductively.            

                He leaned closer, whispers in her ear, "Everything." His hand slipped from her waist to take her hand from his neck. "I know the perfect spot." He guided her out of the room.

Ginny was dancing with her date, Stephan, who looked rather similar to Harry except he had blue eyes and still wore glasses. The pair were laughing and having a wonderful time.

A few songs later, Laura was giggling and it made Draco suspicious. "What?" he asked her as they danced. "What? Why are you laughing?" He looked around the hall. "Are people looking at you again? I'll kill them!" 

                "Obviously," she replied, snickering. "But look over there! Look at what I did to that girl!" During a break between songs, she summoned a piece of toilet paper onto another girl's skirt.

                The poor girl hadn't a clue that there was toilet paper hanging out of her skirt and her friends didn't say anything to her. When her date pointed it out to her, she cried out, mortified, "But I didn't even go to the lavatory!" She rushed from the Great Hall crying. 

                "Oh I feel so bad for her," Draco said as he watched her run out. 

                Laura shot him an unconvinced look. She couldn't believe that he was serious.

                He doubled up in laughter and she laughed with him as he dipped her as they danced. 

                She felt her dress rise up a tad. "Easy Draco…now the whole world can see up my dress!" she joked.

                He brought her up saying, "Bloody hell, are you serious? That will never happen again!"

                "Not in this dress." She grinned mischievously saying, "You know what would be rather fun?"

                "What?"

                "Getting revenge on those two," she said, referring to Zabini and Parkinson who were making fools of themselves trying to imitate Draco and Laura on the dance floor.

                "Not even worth it, love."

                "I suppose you're right…" She sounded a bit crestfallen. "It would have been fun though."

                "You never cease to amaze me."

                She crinkled her nose, smiling. "I love you."

                He leaned in to kiss her, but it was cut short by Dumbledore announcing the next dance to be a special tango.

Harry and Kelly reappeared looking flushed, but happy. The pair went to their table to refresh themselves with a drink. Kelly was desperately trying to fix her hair, but it just kept falling down.

                "Harry, did you by any chance steal my lipstick," Hermione pondered as innocently as possible. She rummaged through her purse, pretending to be looking for it. 

                Ron laughed hysterically at her joke. 

                Harry blushed as he wiped his mouth. Kelly simply sat next to him, rather embarrassed.  

                Ron and Hermione continued laughing at Harry and Kelly for what seemed like ages, but after the humour faded, Ron looked at Hermione longingly. 

"Oh Albus, I didn't know you could tango!" McGonagall exclaimed as she danced with Dumbledore. 

                "Why yes I can, Minerva," he replied suavely as he dipped her. 

                The pair cavorted in front of the other professors, attempting to persuade them to join in on the fun. It obviously worked because Snape approached Siena, grabbed her by the hand, and twirled her into a tight embrace leaving Seamus in shock. 

                "What's going on?!" Seamus exhaled sharply as he sat down. "It's rather odd, wouldn't you say? Me girl and Snape dancing like that!"

                "Oh not really…" Ron replied, pretending to console Seamus, but when Seamus turned back to where Snape and Siena were dancing, Ron looked at his friends with a raised eyebrow, nearly bursting with laughter and the whole table was in stitches. Seamus turned around at the laughter, but they all pretended nothing was going on by staring off in different directions.

                Harry broke the silence by saying to Kelly, "Let's dance."

                "A-Are you sure about that Harry?" Kelly wasn't confident that Harry knew how to tango.

                "Quite sure, let's go." In a well-timed recollection of a swing move from the Christmas Ball, he spun her onto the dance floor. 

                Hermione watched pensively and Ron just stared at her.

Once the tango was over, the pair returned to the table, sitting next to Seamus. Siena came over and collapsed, out of breath. She looked hot and flustered. "I don't tango…"

                Hermione observed, "But you just did…"

                "Whatever!" She dismissed it, turning to Seamus saying, "This is such a bore! Let's go snog some."

                "Erm, OK!" Seamus enthusiastically replied.

                Hermione rolled her eyes. She was glad the night was almost over when another slow song began playing.    

                Harry and Kelly exchanged glances and nodded secretly to each other. "Dance with me Ron," she instructed him, grabbing his hands and pulling the surprised redhead onto the dance floor. 

                "What about Harry?" he managed to mumble once they were already dancing.

                "It's not like we're married," she joked light-heartedly.

                "Want to dance?" Harry asked Hermione who was sitting across from him.

                Hermione was busy gazing at Ron and Kelly, obviously a little jealous of the tall blonde with Ron. She observed that Kelly was nearly the same height as him. She wished she were that tall. "Sure," she said, taking Harry's hand. They danced for awhile.      

                Kelly whispered in Ron's ear, "Why don't you go cut in-" She nodded over at Harry and Hermione.

                Harry's scar started paining him like it had the night before. _"Remember what I told you your fifth year, Harry. This has to be done_." He heard Dumbledore's voice echoing in his head. Disturbed once again by memories of his nightmares, he looked over from Laura and Malfoy to where Ginny and her Hufflepuff date were dancing. She looked happy; she looked like she wasn't even thinking about Malfoy at all. 

                "You OK Harry?" 

                Harry snapped out of his vision and somehow, he was now in Kelly's arms, not Hermione's. A little confused, he looked around to see Hermione and Ron in each other's arms, looking deep into each other's eyes.

                "Guess our plan worked." Harry said, wrapping his arms more tightly around Kelly. He debated about whether or not he should warn Laura and decided to ruin Ginny's evening.

                After the song ended, he pulled Ginny aside. "I'm not sure if you're still chummy with Malfoy, but I know you care about him, so I wanted to let you know- I've had these visions and he's in trouble."

                "Wh-what? Harry, what are you talking about?" Ginny was confused.

                "I mean you need to warn him to get out of here."

                "What-now?" she asked.

                "Just do it before it's too late. Trust me." Harry knew that if Ginny warned Draco, he'd leave and Laura would follow him. That way, he didn't have to approach Laura. He crossed his fingers before returning to Kelly's side.

                Even though the song was over, Ron and Hermione were still standing with their arms wrapped around each other, staring into each other's eyes. "Hermione, I-" Ron began to say.

                "Ron—"

A/N: insert suspenseful music  
Please don't judge this next portion too harshly.

3,358 words, longest chap. yet!


	29. Night of Nadir

At that exact same moment, Death Eaters surrounded the students and professors. It was almost as if they had emerged from shadows on the walls. McGonagall defended herself against a hooded Death Eater and fled with the students closest to the entrance. 

                Only a select few students had brought their wands with them to the ball. Not even all of the professors were armed. Draco, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were among those few. Death Eaters struck down any students and professors obstructing their way to Harry Potter.

                Death Eater upon Death Eater encompassed the Dream Team. 

                Snape and Wen escaped from the room as Dumbledore summoned a force of dark magic to seek out all those in the room who had the Dark Mark. In order to wield this accumulation of dark magic, he would have to sacrifice his life force. 

                Albus Dumbledore summoned his powers roaring the preordained Aramaic curse, "_Bquar Dleh MesTatRaA bKul bBiyshaa, DhaKaNaA MesTatRaA Aenaa_!!"

                Yellow smoke, like fire burst forth from Dumbledore. Like a lit fuse, the fire ran rampantly over the floor, ignoring anything that wasn't stained with the Dark Mark. The fire searched out evil and destroyed. Simultaneously Death Eaters were scorched on their Dark Mark and fell to the ground, dead. Once the fire ate away at all the Death Eaters in the room, it came back and incinerated Dumbledore. All of this happened in a few seconds, not leaving time for anyone to scream.

                Dumbledore's magnanimous, selfless act, gave Voldemort free access to the school. Scant moments passed before the Dark Lord appeared in the Great Hall. Those who hadn't fled the hall were entranced by the Dark Lord's arrival, unable to move let alone escape. He advanced on the object of his loathing, Harry Potter, moving past bodies of fallen Death Eaters. He paused a few metres away from Harry in front of Malfoy who was positioned to shield Laura. "My son…"

                Voldemort moved past Malfoy to Laura behind him, caressing her face provocatively and sneering in delight as she shook in fear "My heir…" he hissed.

                "Get away from her!" Harry yelled, enraged that Voldemort had singled-out Laura to harass her like that.

                Voldemort looked quickly at Laura and then stared at Harry saying, "My successor…" 

                Without another millisecond going by, Harry had his wand out and was cursing him.          

                But Voldemort knew all along of Harry's love for Marwood. He had planned it all. He blocked Harry's curse with no more than a flick of his wrist. "Harry, Harry…" he chided. It was time for Harry Potter to die. 

                Dumbledore was dead. There was no one to stand between the Dark Lord and Harry Potter besides Ron, Hermione, and Kelly. 

                Voldemort raised his wand against them seething, "_Interfecio_!" 

                Kelly showed amazing courage by blocking Ron and Harry from Voldemort's curse. In that moment, the shouts of protest morphed into silence and she could distinguish the look of shock on both Ron and Hermione's faces. It seemed like everything was happening in slow-motion as her legs gave way. Her head tilted and she took in Harry's strained expression, but was unable to hear him calling her name as she fell to floor instantly.

                Ron pushed in front of Hermione who was holding onto his arm. He didn't want her to be harmed as well. He blocked Harry from Voldemort's direct aim.

                "GO!" Harry commanded his best friends.

                Taking the hint, Draco grabbed Laura by the hand once Voldemort released them from the hypnosis. "Let's go," he said. Panicking, she didn't think twice before running from the room with him. 

                Voldemort didn't want Ron. 

                He didn't want Hermione. 

                If they would have just stood aside as he commanded, they wouldn't have come to any harm. 

                Voldemort taunted them wickedly, mostly directing his taunts at Harry. "A mudblood, a Weasley, and a blonde girl…" He nodded where Kelly's body lay. "Very effective, Potter." 

                "You'll have to go through me!"  Ron declared, shoving Harry backward when he tried to get in front of him.

                "No Ron!" Hermione screamed, grabbing onto him, desperately trying to pull him back. 

                Ron broke free from her grasp with his wand at the ready. 

                "Leave Hermione!" Harry and Ron yelled at the same time.

                Hermione refused to make a move to leave.    

                Just as Ron vowed all those years ago to Sirius he said, "If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us, too." Hermione stood beside Ron with her wand aimed at Voldemort. Fear had passed through both of them and they stood without apprehension in front of their best friend. 

                The two of them just stood in Voldemort's way, delaying the inevitable meeting of foes. He laughed at their childish imitation of courage. A peculiar curse escaped Voldemort's lips as he aimed his wand at the pair. "_Pavitare_!"__

                Harry didn't recognize the curse.

                "_Respirare_!" Hermione yelled a protection spell in time to prevent him from killing her. She was knocked backwards, but not unconscious. When she got up, she found that Harry had luckily blocked Voldemort's second attack. Hermione saw the two wands, made with feathers from the same phoenix, engaged in a deadly dance— blue, yellow, and purple colours amalgamating in a rainbow of fire.

                "Take care of Ron!" Harry commanded as he strained with the power of their wands.

                It was then that Hermione noticed Ron's body sprawled unnaturally next to her. Visibly distraught, she rushed over to him, finding him unconscious and grievously wounded. Concern for both of her best friends warred within her. She looked to Harry again, unsure of what to do. 

                "But what about you?!" she exclaimed, her fear rushing back to her. 

                "He needs you, Hermione!" Harry insisted. "This is mine."         

                It felt like the world was ending to Hermione as she tore her glance from Harry and before losing all composure from the summation of emotions she was feeling, she took out her wand and said, "_Wingardium Leviosa_," in order to levitate Ron to the hospital. His skin was ripped all over and blood seemed to be flowing from every inch of his body.

                Somehow, Harry knew what had to happen and that the strength of his friends was with him even though they had long exited the Great Hall. He knew they would be with him in spirit as he confronted the Dark Lord and he didn't have fear or hate in him as he faced the sheer embodiment of evil that was Voldemort. "I will not be your heir! I will not turn to evil!" Harry asserted confidently.

                Voldemort laughed manically crying, "Do you know _why_ I killed your parents, boy?!"

                "You wanted to kidnap me and raise me to be your successor!" Harry yelled back.

                "I tried to kill you and that's the best you can come up with?" he answered, laughing at Harry's stupidity. "You are Godric Gryffindor's heir. You must be exterminated!"

                Harry was astonished at the revelation, but was left wondering why Voldemort called him his son. "Then why call me your son and heir?" Their wands were still locked in battle.

                "As much hatred as you have for me, the hatred accumulated by the two greatest families in Slytherin, save my own, in over a millennia of rivalry makes for the greatest heir." 

                Harry didn't comprehend what Voldemort was saying when all his energy was focused at the linked wands.

                "Imagine it Potter: the hatred for their family name, the hatred for each other's father for killing their mother, their hatred for being abused by their own fathers, their hatred for each other for causing them to fall in love, and Malfoy's hatred enhanced by Marwood's love for you, Potter!"

                Harry was dumbfounded by Voldemort's disclosure and didn't know what to make of it. What about his dream? What about Laura being in danger? He didn't know what to do, but keep his concentration on the warring wands.

                "The only thing I didn't account for was the little Weasley falling in love with Malfoy, but that was an added bonus," he chuckled, glancing over at Ginny who remained frozen, but not in fear. 

                Ginny hadn't fled after everyone else was released from his hypnosis. She had been torn between staying with Harry and chasing after Draco. When her brother was wounded, she wanted to help Hermione take him to the hospital, but she knew Voldemort. She knew he was Tom Riddle, her only friend her first year at Hogwarts. Her one true friend, Tom, had betrayed her trust. She stood there heartbroken. 

                "It's all going as planned, as soon as you die…" Voldemort bragged impertinently. "So young and not ready for the responsibilities of parenthood, their union will be terminated by their ongoing conflicts of nature, his abuse, and her love for you, they will cast off their child to be raised by me."

                "NEVER!" Harry yelled passionately, his extreme caring for Laura's well-being still echoing in his heart. His colour strengthened in force. Was she pregnant? The thought swirled to the back of his mind.

                Ginny stared into the eyes of Voldemort. She wanted to be able to touch that part of him that manipulated her; the suave teenaged voice who compelled her to do his bidding. He wasn't paying attention to her as he battled Harry. She mumbled a few lines of spell, which caused her eyes to change colour, manifesting her pureness of soul to counter his iniquity. The hate she felt for his betrayal disappeared and she felt sorry for him. She recalled all the things he told her about his past and the spitefulness the other Slytherins displayed towards him for being a mudblood. Closing in on him, she reached out with her unadulterated pity for him, making contact with the bare skin on his hand.

                Voldemort cried out in agony as if her touch were piercing daggers in his flesh. 

                Harry took advantage of the Dark Lord's momentary distraction and said the killing curse once.

Meanwhile Draco and Laura were running down the hallways, searching for a safe place. There was nowhere to go. When Draco realized he was dragging her towards Slytherin Tower, he stopped, dropping her hand. "We can't go this way." He knew their fathers would look for them there.

                Laura stood next to him with fear in her eyes as pain coursed through her muscles from the forceful wrenching of her arm. She looked swiftly towards Slytherin Tower, back down the hallway they came from, and down the hallway on her left before searching his eyes for and an idea. "What are we going to do?" she panted.            

                A place Ginny and he had met secretly on more than one occasion flashed into his mind. He grabbed her hand again and yanked her after him down another hallway. He opened a door and shut it behind them, leaving them in complete darkness.

                A few moments of silence passed as they stood in the broom closet. Laura folded her arms around herself, utterly filled with cold dread. "Before we die, I want you to know…" she started slowly, "I-I-I'm pregnant…" He didn't respond and she couldn't see his reaction. She finished rapidly, "Voldemort knows. He'll tell them… I-I'm so frightened!"

                 His breath came out in an insecure exhale. "Is it mine?"

                He sounded reproaching and she had no reason to feel something other than revulsion. "Who else?!" she responded, justly offended. 

                "I don't know."

                She could hear him pace and run a hand through his hair as if in contemplation. She felt nauseous.

                Draco didn't know what to make of the situation. What should he feel, but fear? Should he cast her off as a slag or did any of that matter anymore if they were to die? "We'll have to face them." He didn't need her to respond since it was evident she knew this as well. 

                He felt his way over to her, not bothering to say the wand-lighting spell. He found her hands wringing in her lap and clasped his hands around hers. If she could see him, she would see his eyes fiercely staring into hers. "I want you to know that, no matter what happens, I'll take care of you… Don't ever doubt that." 

                His forehead made contact with hers and she could feel the radiating warmth of his sincerity. He sank to one knee and she sank down onto her knees in front of him. His arms enveloped her and she welcomed the comfort of his embrace as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I'm so scared, Draco!" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

                "I know," he breathed into her hair, "I am too."

"You're not going to sodding die on me! I'll hate you forever! Do you hear me, Ronald Weasley?!! You can't sodding die!!" Hermione was so afraid he was going to lose too much blood before she even got him to the hospital wing.

                By the time she reached the hospital, Madam Pomfrey took over and helped her lay him on an empty bed. There were already countless students recovering from the Death Eater's attack. "Merlin!" Madam Pomfrey gasped. "What spell hit him?"

                "I wasn't in time to block it!" Hermione cried, tears springing from her eyelids. "I couldn't save him!"

                "What spell?!" she demanded rather harshly, but she needed to know so she could try a counter-curse.

                "_Abscindo venas_! There's not a counter-curse! I don't know what you can do, but you have to help him! Oh, hell!!" Hermione sank in the chair next to him, utterly exhausted. The tiredness sank in, letting her emotions unleash oceans of tears. She kissed Ron all over his face, not minding the blood, as she cried, and praying he wouldn't die. He didn't deserve to die! It was too soon! He was barely eighteen and had his whole life ahead of him. He was her first love, her only love. They should be together! It wasn't fair! This wasn't how it was supposed to be…

                Guilt started to eat away at her. She could have been the one hit and not him. "You can't die like this! Not now!" She felt so bad about their stupid, immature fights. They had wasted so much time that year when they could have been together. It just wasn't fair.

                Madam Pomfrey, who wasn't as emotionally affected, was able to see the situation much clearer than Hermione and set about cauterising the current wounds before mixing an anti-inflammatory potion. She then gave Hermione an herbal potion to drink, to make her sleepy so Hermione wouldn't be in the way while she worked on Ron.

A/N: If you're angry about Draco running out of there, just remember- Gryffindors are known for courage, not the Slytherins. (I like Slytherin too, so…sod off!) :-P

A clue for you: Remember **point of view**. 

_The truth relies greatly on our own point of view. _

_Obi-wan said it and I do too! _

_If you have a problem with that then well, frell you! _

{See, I can rhyme creatively! I should get paid for this…hehehe…}

I am _so _the language queen! Dumbledore's Aramaic curse was "Seek out and destroy all evil, thus destroying me", Voldemort's curse was "quake in fear," and Hermione's was "recover from fear"! ::takes a bow:: thank you, thank you…


	30. Sacrifices

It was over. Harry killed Voldemort and the tormented souls captured in his wand were released. 

Ginny looked around, surveying the damage the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord had inflicted. She saw the body of a cloaked Death Eater with a blonde ponytail similar to Draco's father's hair. Shocked entirely by the courageousness displayed by both her brother, who may now lay dead, and the famous Harry Potter, Ginny left to search out Draco.

Briefly reunited with his parents, Harry was drained both physically and mentally. He fell to his knees in front of Kelly's body, letting out an anguished cry. Harry knelt there, assessing how many people lay dead because of him. He felt like it was his fault. Voldemort only wanted him. He could have saved all the innocent people. 

All those students…professors… Dumbledore…Ron…Kelly…were dead because of him. 

Harry was the only living person left in the room.

Ginny had a hunch Draco'd hide with Marwood in the secret place she had often met him when they were dating. She unlocked the door, finding the two of them hugging as they knelt on the floor of the closet. She wondered how long they had been there.

The bright light from the hallway blinded them for a moment and when Draco looked up, he saw Ginny as an angel with an unearthly light glowing behind her. He thought he had died.

"Your father, Draco… He's dead," Ginny informed him. 

"And Voldemort?" Draco asked as he pulled Laura to her feet.

"Harry killed him."

Just as she said this, Harry appeared from down the hallway looking completely battered and miserable. The trio recognized the body he was carrying in his arms to be Kelly Andersson. 

"Bloody hell," Draco murmured at the sight of her unconscious body. She was so beautiful, even in death.

The pain and complete exhaustion in Potter's face showed every bit of recognition that Andersson was gone, but he insisted on taking her to the hospital wing. He held her like a child in his arms; her head resting on his shoulder. He didn't stop or acknowledge the trio as he passed.

The three of them exchanged glances, but followed him in silence. Draco put his right arm around Laura's shoulders as they followed Ginny to the hospital wing. 

After one of the medi-witches under Pomfrey's tutelage helped Harry lay Kelly's body on an empty bed, the sixth-year student ordered Harry to lay down as well, but he wouldn't listen. "If there's any-anything you can do for her— Do it now," he asked the medi-witch.

"I will," she responded, "but it doesn't look very hopeful."

Harry was about to object when he saw Hermione. "Hermione…" he breathed, stumbling over to where Hermione sat next to Ron's bed. "Is he…"

Hermione stood up and took Harry into her arms, hugging him tightly. She held onto him for a few minutes before telling him, "He's still alive."

"Oh thank God," Harry exhaled in relief. He nearly collapsed onto her, but luckily the persistent little medi-witch and Ginny were there to help him onto a bed. 

Laura moved to go to Harry's side, but Draco was holding her back. "Let me go to him," she pleaded.

"I don't want you touching him." It wasn't because of his hatred for Potter, but because he didn't want Harry finding out about them and Laura's situation. 

"Just let me help him," Laura pleaded.

Harry heard Laura's voice and her struggling with Malfoy. "It's all right. I already know."

Draco asked suspiciously, "About what?" 

"Laura's pregnant," Harry answered. His eyes closed out of exhaustion.

How did Potter know? Draco was angry at the thought of Harry having some telepathic ability and he wasn't confident Laura would be able to heal him without transferring some of her thoughts. He didn't want Potter knowing anything else about them or about Draco personally. But did it matter anymore? 

Ginny was too shocked to speak. Her eyes were wide as she looked at the pair, wishing she had answers to all the questions whirling in her mind. For some reason, she wished it were her. She wished that she was carrying Draco's child instead of Marwood. She knew the idea was stupid because she still had another year of school and didn't want the responsibilities of being a parent so soon. At the same time, she was able to see the fear in Marwood's eyes and knew that Marwood didn't want to have a child either. She suddenly felt bad for her even though part of her still wanted to be with Draco. She looked to Harry instead and prayed he wasn't in danger.

Draco released his tight grip on Laura's arm and she proceeded to heal Harry. 

Hermione wasn't surprised that Marwood and Malfoy had created life without thinking about consequences, but she didn't care about them. She was primarily concerned for her two best friends who lay on adjacent beds and was drowsy from the potion Pomfrey had her drink.

Madam Pomfrey finished with Ron and went to the other grievously injured students first before tending to Harry.

Draco paced as the orange glow radiated from Laura.

Harry dozed off after a bit and Laura broke her trance feeling a little woozy. She let Harry alone and glanced from Weasley to Andersson. She couldn't get Harry's plea out of her head, _"Not me…go to her...she's far more injured than me…" _Shaking her head, she decided to have a look at Weasley instead since he had actually been pleasant to her. Of course, he could have just been nice to her because he'd rather have _her_ with Draco instead of his sister, but he was Harry's best friend, so Laura approached his bed. Granger was fast asleep in the chair next to him and he looked nearly dead.

"He's lost a lot of blood," an exhausted Madam Pomfrey said. "There's not much more I can do for him. We'll just have to wait and see." 

"What kind of curse was it?" she wondered.

"A vein-opening curse…very dangerous…" She looked around at Draco and Ginny who were unharmed. "Why don't you three head back to your dormitories—"

"Can't do that," Draco piped in. "There are other dangerous people after us and Slytherin Tower is the first place they'd look for me."

"I'm not leaving him," Ginny said, but added quickly, "or Harry or my brother…"

Madam Pomfrey threw her hands in the air, "Why do I bother!" and bustled about ordering a medi-wizard to tend to an injured Hufflepuff. 

As Laura began linking with Weasley she could sense he was fighting her. "Do you want my help or not?" she muttered aloud.

Hermione woke up with a start. "What is she doing?" she questioned at the glowing girl. "Stop!"

Draco mediated. "Look, you want your bloody boyfriend to live or not?"

"What's it to you?" she spat back.

"You're absolutely right." Draco realized he shouldn't bother arguing with Granger and that neither he nor Laura had any business messing about with Weasley.

Hermione was confused at his response, but too tired to care.

Draco touched Laura's shoulder and she blinked, looking up to meet his eyes. "I wasn't nearly done with—" But before she could finish her sentence, she passed out.

Ron awoke to see Hermione looking shocked. "What's going on?"

"Ron!!" she joyfully exclaimed. "You're all right!" She decided at that moment, she would be indebted to Marwood.

"Someone get that bleeding medi-witch over here!" Draco yelled. Laura was unconscious in his arms.

Harry woke up, rubbing his forehead where the scar was, and blinked a few times. "Blast!" His sight had deteriorated to its normally bad vision and he was without his glasses. He couldn't see that Ginny was sitting next to his bed.

"Shit!" Draco cursed when his grip on Laura slipped. He stumbled as he looked around for a vacant bed, but all were full. He laid her on the floor instead.

"Harry! Harry! Ron's OK!" Hermione leapt from her chair, bouncing over to his bed. 

Ginny asked, "Harry, what's wrong?"

"I can't see… I need my glasses…" he admitted reluctantly.

The brown-haired medi-witch-in-training finally came over to help Draco. "What happened to her?" the medi-witch asked him.

"She just passed out," he informed her.

"I'll run and get them." Ginny said at the same time as Hermione. Hermione stopped midway before leaving and brushed the hair away from his temple. "Your scar…"

"Yes? What about it?" Harry asked.

"It's… What I mean is, it's gone," she informed him.

The medi-witch felt Laura's neck to check her pulse and checked to see if she was running a fever before putting some smelling salts under her nose. "Come on…" she urged Laura to wake.

"Are you serious?" Harry was stunned and could barely believe it to be true. 

Hermione just smiled. 

Laura took a sharp intake of breath and her eyes fluttered open. 

Draco helped her slowly sit up. "Don't scare me like that!"

She groaned, putting a hand to her temple. "Did I- Did he wake?" 

The medi-witch answered, "He did, thanks to whatever you did to him. I've never seen someone wield wand-less magic like that. Same with Harry Potter over there…"

Laura looked towards Weasley and then at Harry. She sighed, "Good," before passing out again.

"What's wrong with her?" Ginny asked, leaving Harry's side to help Draco.

"Something happened when she tried healing your brother," he told her.

Ginny glanced at Ron who looked remarkably better than before.

"I think it has to do with the transference of energy…" the medi-witch reckoned. "Depending on the injury she was trying to heal, she might have transferred her life force into him instead…"

"Are you saying she could die?" Draco demanded. Only Ginny was able to hear the fear behind his question.

The medi-witch felt threatened by the Slytherin. "It's not my area of expertise. I don't really know."

"You'd best find out before you go making that kind of assumption!"

"Don't harass her, Draco. It's not her fault," Ginny interceded.

Draco rose from the floor and went into the hallway leaving Ginny kneeling on the floor next to where Laura lay. He resumed his pacing, deep in thought. 

"Ginny," Hermione went over to her. "I'm leaving to get Harry's glasses now. You still want to come?"

"Oh, yeah sure," Ginny said, getting up from the floor.

As Ginny and Hermione left the hospital, they saw Draco standing outside the room hitting the wall with his fists, but moved quickly past him, even though Ginny would have wanted to stay with him. Other wounded students were filtering into the already packed hospital wing. 

Draco leaned his forehead against the wall outside the hospital, closing his eyes. He knew what had to be done. Now that his father was dead, the only one standing in the way was Roger Marwood. He had to kill Roger Marwood. Pounding his fists on the wall, he growled. Marwood was a sadistic Death Eater and no doubt had his own minions to protect him besides his own wizarding powers and Draco would have to face him. 

He was angry that he was scared to confront Marwood while Potter was fearless in front of Voldemort. 

As he resumed hammering his fists into the wall, a tall dark-haired man slowly approached him. "If you keep that up, you won't have any knuckles left."

Draco faced the unfamiliar voice. He looked the man up and down, taking in the shabby cloak and unkempt black hair. He glared at the middle-aged man. "What do you care?"

The man chuckled. "Let's just say after Marwood and his supporters are defeated, you can go scatty for all I care, but for now, I suggest you get yourself together." He patted him roughly on the shoulder before entering the hospital.

Sneering at the audacity of the older and rugged-looking man, Draco followed him in.

"Snuffles!" Ron cheered when he saw the dark-haired man.

Draco raised a confused eyebrow, but continued to glare suspiciously at him.

Harry was about to get up and embrace his godfather, but Sirius was over in time to prevent him. "Rest now. We've got until tomorrow."

"For what?" Harry asked.

Sirius hadn't noticed the girl lying on the floor until then. He knelt next her, pulling a vial from his tattered robes. Tilting her chin backwards, he poured half of the liquid into her mouth. 

"What are you doing to her?!" Draco demanded.

Sirius responded, "How long have you known about her wand-less magic abilities?"

"Excuse me?!" Draco was furious. "How do you-how does that-"

He ignored Draco's stuttered defiance and coaxed Laura to wake. When she didn't wake, he took out his wand saying, "_Ennervate_."

Without seeing Sirius clearly, she thought he was her father. Legs flailing, hands scraping the floor, she struggled to get away from him. "Va t'en!"

"Hold still," Sirius said calmly to her.

"Ne me touches pas! Lâchez-moi!" Laura screamed in French. When she realized the man holding her down wasn't her father, she demanded to know who he was, "Qui est vous? Répondez-moi!!" 

"Ça va aller, mon chéri. Vous êtes sauvés. " Draco gently stroked her cheek. "It's OK, Riana."

"Draco…" She seemed for a moment to recognize him, but continued muttering, "Qu est ce qui est arrivé?! Dites-moi ce qui est arrivé!"

Sirius looked rather startled that the Marwood girl was spurting French. "What's she saying?"

"I think she wants to know what happened…" He turned back to her. "You fainted. It's my fault. I broke you out of your trance too quickly-you didn't have time to convalesce your energy, I know it…"

"Mon dieu!" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry I was- I don't know…I'm so confused..."

"It's OK." Draco turned back to Sirius. "What are you doing here? What did you give her?"

"What I gave her was a reinvigoration potion for wizards using mental charms or spells."

"And why would you just happen to have some with you?" Draco questioned distrustfully.

"Because it worked well on her last time," Sirius answered frankly. Without Malfoy's help, Sirius lifted the girl and placed her on a vacant bed near the entrance that Malfoy hadn't seen in his earlier fervour. 

A/N: translation of the French-Go away, don't touch me, leave me alone, who are you, answer me, it's all right my darling, you're safe, what happened, tell me what happened, my god  
I don't claim to know French, so whatever…

Oooo Sirius is back! Let's close our eyes and pretend he looks like Ewan McGreggor shall we?


	31. The Price You Pay

While Malfoy was preoccupied with Marwood and the medi-witch, Sirius went back over to Harry. Assuming Ron was still unconscious, he told Harry, "I've got the location of Marwood, Harry. I think you know why I came to tell you this."

                "You want me to kill him?" Harry asked. "I don't understand. If he was such a criminal, why wasn't he locked away in Azkaban ages ago?"

                "You know the reason why, Harry; just as you know why I was wrongly imprisoned. He's got connections and he knows how to use them. Right now, he's rounding up his followers just outside the school."

                "Why didn't tell me all of this right away?!" Harry exclaimed, nearly jumping from the bed. "We could have stopped him before he got all his followers together! I don't understand."

                "Timing is everything, Harry," Sirius replied, calming him down. "I didn't want you rushing out of here completely unprepared and still recovering! We leave tomorrow morning."

                Harry shook his head. He didn't understand why it always had to be him. "Wasn't killing Voldemort enough?! Haven't enough innocent people died?!"

                "Dumbledore _told_ you two years ago what he had to do. He told you-"

                "He told me all the Death Eaters in the room would be killed by his curse. Why wouldn't you-" Harry stopped himself as he put the pieces together. "You-you have the Dark Mark?"

               Sirius rolled up the sleeves of his robe, but not to reveal the Dark Mark. "That's not why. You had to defeat Voldemort on your own. It was something you were meant to do."

                "But all those innocent people that died-my friends- It's not fair!"            

                "Life isn't fair. It's the price you have to pay, Harry." 

                "The price of what?" 

                "The price of being a hero." 

                Harry exhaled before saying, "I never asked to be a hero." 

                "But you are one." Sirius put an empathetic hand on Harry's shoulder.

                He lowered his head, not meeting his godfather's eyes. "But I feel so guilty." 

                "If you didn't, you wouldn't be a good person." Sirius concluded, "Sometimes innocent people die, but those who remain will always remember their sacrifice." 

                Harry looked up at him.

                Sirius saw the hurt in Harry's eyes, but noticed the difference from the young boy he had met just a few years ago. He saw that Harry had grown up. He had faced evil and now had to finish his task. "I want you and Hermione to go with me tomorrow."

                "Hermione?" Harry blinked, adjusting his glasses.

                "She's the top student in your class, is she not?" Sirius smiled, but knew this troubled Harry. He sobered, admitting, "That's why I'm speaking with you about this first. I wanted to ask your permission to bring her along. I wanted Ron to go along as well, but under the circumstances—"

                "I don't want her to go," Harry interrupted him. "Both of them were willing to die for my sake and I couldn't ask them to do it again. I don't want them harmed."

                "I understand." Sirius pat Harry's arm. "Would you mind if I asked Mr Malfoy to accompany us?"

                Harry shot him an uncertain glance. 

                "We need all the help we can get and you know how much the Malfoys hate the-" Sirius stopped himself, nearly laughing. He nodded over to where Malfoy sat next to Marwood's bedside, holding her hand. He shook his head. "You know what I mean."

                Harry grinned despite himself. "All right."

                "Good." He looked around. "Now how to go about talking to him without disturbing Miss Marwood…" Sirius left Harry in order to speak with Malfoy about the plan for tomorrow.

                Ron had overheard their entire conversation and announced, "I'm going with you!"

                "No Ron. You're not," Harry responded as Sirius was explaining to Malfoy what was going to happen. 

                "If Malfoy's going, you need someone to watch your back!" The pair shouted at each other a bit, fighting over whether Ron was or wasn't going to go with Harry, Sirius, and Malfoy.

                Hermione and Ginny returned with Harry's glasses and a change of clothes for the Gryffindors. Only hearing the part about Ron insisting on going with Harry, Hermione exclaimed, "Why'd you have to go and put all this in his head, Harry? He's not going with you!"

                "I am!" Ron held his ground. "And I will! It's my duty as his best friend!"

                "You're not strong enough to go!" Hermione insisted as she went over to his bed. "I won't let you! Harry—Tell him he's not going!"

                Harry shook his head. He knew perfectly well that Ron wasn't going with him, but he decided to have a little fun instead of getting mad that Hermione assumed he had said that Ron was going. He cleverly remarked, "It's up to Ron to decide whether he's going or not." 

                Ron heroically attempted to get out of bed crying, "I'm going!" But tragically, he fell onto the floor. "Or…not…" he said in a painful voice.

                Hermione scolded, "That's right you're not!" as she helped him back onto the bed.

                Ginny told Harry confidently, "Count me in."

                "Are you sure?"

                "Positive," Ginny replied with assurance.

                No one else knew what Ginny had done to help him defeat Voldemort. "All right," he conceded.

                Hermione then informed Harry, Ron, the brown-haired medi-witch, and Madam Pomfrey that a few of the classrooms were being used as makeshift infirmaries. "Some other students decided to take matters into their own hands and started burning the bodies of Death Eaters. The fires from the Great Hall can be felt all the way to Gryffindor Tower."

                "Unbelievable," Ron remarked. 

                Ginny gave Harry his glasses saying, "We almost didn't make it back."

                He held up a mirror and rubbed his finger over the skin where the scar had been. "It's really gone." He smiled. 

                Ron sat up a bit and saw the form of blonde girl lying on a bed near his. "Is that-?" 

                "Kelly," Hermione told him once she returned to his bedside. "She saved my life. And she saved yours." 

                "Blimey," he murmured in response. "What the bloody hell happened?"

While Sirius was conversing with a seventh-year medi-wizard, Harry got up to walk around a bit, knowing he wouldn't sleep much that night. As he passed Madam Pomfrey's chamber, he felt someone was following him. Swiftly turning around, he was shocked to see Malfoy there. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

                Draco sniffed, "The only reason I'm up for this jaunt is because I want to see Marwood dead as much as you do."

                "So?" Harry persisted; wanting rather to crawl back into bed, feeling awfully tired all of a sudden.

                Draco bowed his head, exhaling, "As much as I hate to say it, you're a powerful wizard; probably the best in our school and if I don't make it back-" He cleared his throat because it was ever so difficult for him to say what he wanted to. "Look, I don't want any harm to come to her."

                Harry understood what his enemy was saying to him, but didn't know why he was telling him this. "Neither do I. Your point?"

                "My point, _Potter_, is that-" Draco pointedly avoided Potter's eyes as he said, "I know you still care for her and if I can't be there, I'd rather she be with someone that loves her." He looked back at him, carefully searching for confirmation. The gravity of the favour he was asking was more than Potter knew. Potter didn't know what Draco had planned. 

                For once, Harry saw pain in Malfoy's eyes and it registered with him. He pictured Kelly lying there on the bed and him unable to do anything to help her. "I know. I know and I understand. What I can't understand is why you're being so nice to me all of a sudden." 

                "Insufferable git!" Draco cursed. "Don't mock me!"

                "I'm not mocking you," Harry sighed, barely able to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Was Malfoy always so predictable?

                "This is serious!" Draco insisted, just about ready to pommel his enemy for being so frustrating.

                "I know!" Harry shouted back at him. 

                Ginny heard the yelling and rushed out to see what was going on at the same time as Sirius.

Laura awoke to silence and found Draco gone. She nearly panicked, but when she saw Granger tending to Weasley across the room, she knew she hadn't dreamt everything. She lay back down, sighing, and closed her eyes a few minutes before getting out of bed. 

                She heard Draco's voice just outside the room, "How do I know I can trust you?" 

                Harry's voice replied honestly, "I hate you. That's how you know." A moment of silence passed before Harry's voice was heard again. "It's too late to be scared, Malfoy."

                "I'm not scared, Potter!"

                "It's time to kill," an unfamiliar voice finished Harry's previous statement.

                Laura rushed into the hallway to find Harry, Draco, Ginny, and the same dark-haired man who had revived her earlier. Before anyone had a chance to speak, she asked, "Who's this?"

                Sirius stepped closer to her with an outstretched hand and Laura automatically backed away from him. "I'm not going to hurt you."

                "He's my godfather," Harry informed her. 

                Surprising everyone except Sirius, Draco added, "He's the one who rescued you when you were being attacked in America and brought you here."

                Laura clasped a hand over her mouth in shock. "I am so sorry… Thank you. Thank you for everything!" To everyone's surprise, she gave Sirius a big hug.

                "Er- you're welcome…" Harry was the only one to notice that his godfather was blushing.

                From hugging Sirius, she was able to attain the basic plan for tomorrow's events. Her smile faded. "I'm going with you."

                Harry and Draco told her at the same time, "No."

                She turned to Sirius saying, "It's my father you're pursuing. It's my father you're going to kill. It's only fair that I should go too."

                Both Harry and Draco stepped in once again to argue against it, but Ginny pulled Harry back saying, "It's not your decision to make."

                Harry didn't like what Ginny was saying, but knew it was true. 

                Draco faced Laura directly. "You're not going."

                "Are you ordering me?" she asked in an insulted tone.

                He repeated it once again, "You're NOT going."

                She stared him down. "Try and stop me."

                Though mildly amused by their quarrel, Sirius interceded, not aware of her pregnancy. "She's correct, it's her father, and she should be able to go with us."

                Draco shot Sirius a rather unpleasant look before yielding to his decision. Wasn't it enough that Potter had allowed Ginny to go along? They _had_ to have Laura come too? This wasn't Potter's fight! Draco understood why Potter wanted to kill Voldemort; he had murdered his parents, but Marwood had nothing to do with him. Why did Saint Potter have to get involved with everyone else's business? 

                "For now it's time to sleep. All of you." He looked around at each of them. He saw the concern in Ginny and Hermione's eyes. He saw the flash of excitement in Ron's and the suspicion in Draco's. "We have a busy day ahead of us."

Harry left the group and went back into the hospital room to sit next to Kelly's bed. He recalled Laura healing him and thought about how she had entered his thoughts before. Unlike the previous time when Laura had first returned to Hogwarts and she had shared thoughts with him, this healing trance hadn't let many of her thoughts through. He briefly wondered if she had read _his_ thoughts instead. If she had, then she'd know how much he wanted her to heal Kelly. He remembered thinking, _"Not me…go to her...anything you could do, please—"_ and that's when Laura broke her trance.

                "I don't know if she'll even make it through the night, Potter," Madam Pomfrey said edgily as she rested a shaky hand on his shoulder. 

                And it was his fault. He knew something was going to happen and he selfishly kept her by his side. Her face was so pale it nearly matched the colour of her hair; even her lips were a faded pastel pink. He gently put a hand to her cheek, brushing her hair away and taking in all her features. He let his fingers trail down her bare shoulder and arm. Her hand unconsciously allowed his fingers to intertwine with hers and he looked to her face again, praying for a sign she'd wake, but her face gave no sign of her recovery.

                Hermione saw her friend's distress and went over to him while Ron slept.

                Harry's voice ruptured the silence, saying, "Do you remember what curse hit her?" 

                She shook her head. "I'm sorry Harry." She felt bad that she didn't remember. "I'm sure there's a counter-curse though." She wanted to keep his hopes up so she told him, "I've read about some curses that can be cured by a kiss, of course not just any kiss, but true love's kiss."

                "Sounds like a fairy-tale to me, Hermione."

                "It wouldn't hurt to give it a try," she encouraged.

                Harry nodded, leaning over to brush his lips against Kelly's. Hermione watched intently, hoping it would work. 

                When Kelly's eyes fluttered open, Hermione pulled Harry back by the shoulders so he could see it. 

                "Stay with me, Kelly!" Harry implored. Her eyes closed again and he hesitated to shake her, but caressed her face desperately instead entreating, "Stay with me…"  

                "Harry…" Hermione said. He turned to her and she pulled him into a comforting hug. She wished she hadn't forgotten what curse hit Kelly so she could be of some help.

                If Kelly's life was the forfeit, Harry wasn't sure he wanted to pay. Couldn't someone else play the hero?

A/N: I still have more chapters to go, but I'm already considering a third instalment. I'm thinking, however, about having a mostly Draco/Laura fic (post-Hogwarts) with a little bit of Kelly/Harry/Ginny?, Ron/Hermione of course, but heavy on the Draco. How does that sound to you? 

My ideas for the fic (which would include children of the aforementioned) would be rather violent and deal with kidnap, murder, and abuse, so it'd probably be rated R… I'm not sure yet. But let me know, please, what you think about it.


	32. It's All Because of You

The students who passed away were taken from the hospital wing and Sirius stayed up the rest of the night watching over those who slept. Hermione slept in the chair next to Ron's bed while Ginny was curled up on the floor next to her brother's bed with extra blankets. Laura was in a bed near the hospital's entrance and since there weren't enough vacant beds, no one said anything against Draco sleeping with her.

                Ron awoke just before dawn—since he had slept most of the night—and watched Hermione as she slept. He felt bad that he was using the bed and thought she looked rather uncomfortable hunched over in the chair, so he woke her up gently. "Herm…Hermione," he whispered.

                She opened her sleepy eyes slowly and saw him looking at her. "What is it? Are you all right?"

                "I'm fine. It's just that- you looked so uncomfortable sleeping in that ruddy chair. I thought you'd be more comfortable in this bed." He realized how forward it sounded, asking her to sleep in the same bed as him, so he added quickly, "Seeing as how I'm awake and all…" It wasn't that he was nervous. Hell, she had slept in his bed last year on more than one occasion. It was just that he didn't want to seem rude.

                Without even thinking about it, she got out of the chair and climbed next to him. When he winced, she said, "Sorry. Did I hurt you?"

                "Not a bit. Not a bit." He grinned as he wrapped his uninjured arm around her.

                She fell back asleep instantly. Only this time, she was much more comfortable.

                He brushed her hair with his hand and kissed her temple, deciding at that moment he never wanted to fall asleep without her beside him.

It was early morning when Draco forced himself to wake. He knew if he didn't leave then, it would be too late. Taking in Laura's sleeping form; he found it far more difficult to leave than ever before. Most likely, it was due to the fact that he might not ever see her again. He strained to resist the urge to kiss her only because he didn't want to risk waking her. Afraid for her well-being, but knowing Potter wouldn't break a promise, he knew it was now or never. He had to go. This was his fight, not Potter's, and it was time for Roger Marwood to die.

                Without touching her, he got up and threw his cloak on, careful to dodge Black as he dozed off in a corner chair. At the entrance, he took one last glance at Laura before putting on his hood and heading out to the Dark Forest. When he approached the position Black had explained to them the previous night, Draco found it hard to distinguish just who he was looking at because of the foul weather, but saw about twelve cloaked figures in front of a large tree. He was thankful he had brought his cloak with him when it resumed raining. Deciding it best to hang about first until he could pinpoint which Death Eater was Marwood, he positioned himself in some undergrowth.

                It looked as though the Death Eaters were spilt into two factions. Draco assumed it was due to the death of their Dark Lord. One of the Death Eaters standing at the head of twelve others removed his hood. "Marwood," Draco cursed, recognizing the dark-haired man. As he reached to draw out his wand for attack, the leader of about twelve more Death Eaters came out of the darkness and removed his hood. Draco nearly died. "Father?" Though in shock, Draco wasn't stupid. He remained safely hidden; hoping the two factions of Death Eaters would battle each other so he wouldn't have to do anything. Perhaps his father would even kill off Marwood for him.

                "So it finally comes down to this, Roger," Lucius announced in a sickeningly sweet voice.

                The two Death Eaters faced each other off in front of their underlings. 

                Roger clicked his teeth. "Who'd have thought you'd run out on Voldemort," he sarcastically replied. "Turned your heels up and ran off, you did. Reminds me of when we were in school. Never could stand up for anyone, could you? Always have been a scared git."

Draco was fuelled with anger already and at the remark of fear, he was nearly bursting with anger to kill that Marwood bastard.

                "Always telling us how you'd plan to do away with the Heir of Slytherin and usurp his followers, but you never could back your declarations with action. Remember how we put aside our rivalry to overtake Voldemort during our seventh year? You turned me in, betraying my confidence, but he knew all along. The Dark Lord praised me, called it a 'well-conceived plan', but he was suspicious of you after that. He knew you had been involved and got cold feet. Just like tonight— you ran away." 

                Lucius kept his calm the entire time, letting Roger run his mouth off. "And you _Roger_ were never calculating enough to think up excuses."

                "Going for an intellect insult? Isn't _that_ clever," he sardonically replied.

                "Jealous of my superior intelligence, are you?"

                "Well that would be a first: a Marwood being jealous of a Malfoy!" He laughed at that, leaving Draco in confusion as he watched. "You've always been jealous of me. You wanted Lucretia and couldn't have her so you murdered her!" 

                "I don't deny it," Lucius sneered. "She was quite a catch. Lucretia…"

Another of his father's lies was revealed and Draco was taken aback.

                "You've never wanted me to have her and it still makes you green-eyed just thinking about it, doesn't it?!" 

                "Now that _is_ the past, isn't it? Regressing, are we?" Lucius said, chuckling in remembrance of the stunning Lucretia Firebrand. 

                "Never thought you'd stoop so low as to have Narcissa curse her though…" 

                "And we all saw how that didn't work," Lucius sarcastically responded. "That squib of a daughter of yours was still born."

                "A squib because of Narcissa's curse!"

                "She wasn't supposed to conceive at all…" Lucius paused, as if he was putting the pieces together. "Is that why you hunted my wife down? Wanted to take out your revenge on her?"

                "Oh, quite on the contrary, she came to me willingly." Roger grinned evilly. "After your little spat, she came to me for comfort while making you jealous in the process."

                Lucius raised his wand against his enemy.

Draco couldn't believe Laura's father would refer to his own daughter as a squib. She wasn't a squib! He had no idea about her healing abilities, had he? Suddenly, Draco heard a voice next to him saying his name and he jumped. "Riana! What are you doing here?"

                "I couldn't let you do it alone," she ardently responded. 

                "It's too dangerous Riana," he whispered, "You can't stay here." 

                "What did you expect me to do? Sit around and wait for you to get your ass kicked?"

                "Better me than you. Now go," he implored. 

                "I'm not leaving you—" Before she had a chance to finish her sentence, she was grabbed from behind by a cloaked Death Eater.

                Draco barely had a chance to protest before being seized as well.

A few hours passed and Sirius woke Harry. "They're gone!"

                "Wh-What?" Harry blinked his eyes opened, confused. "Who?"

                "Malfoy and Marwood…"

                "You don't think they set off do to it alone, do you?"

                Sirius only nodded in response and informed him they would leave right away.

                Harry told Sirius he wanted to stop in to say goodbye to his best friends before they left. Ginny was already with them saying her goodbyes.             

                "Be careful, Ginny," Ron was telling her. "Harry, watch over her, all right?" 

                Harry nodded. He gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek and embraced both her and Ron in turn. "You two stay safe, all right?" He looked at Hermione directly adding, "Watch over her," referring to his unconscious girlfriend. "And if-when she wakes, tell her I love her."

                "I will," she replied.

                "Good luck, mate," Ron said.

                "Take care, Harry," Hermione managed to say before he and Ginny disappeared from the room. 

"There were no witnesses," Roger pointed out arrogantly. He saw the two children and shifted his focus saying, "Well, well, what do we have here?"

                "Ahh, the prodigal son returns," Lucius drawled. He saw Laura then and exclaimed, "What are you still mucking about with that tart for? She's the daughter of our sworn enemy!"

                "We're not enemies; we love each other, really," Draco said, shrugging off the Death Eater's hold on him to put a protective arm around Laura who frowned, fearful of the two men.      

                "You can have her, she's worthless to me," Roger interjected. He spat at his daughter's feet only increasing Draco's anger.      

                "So it wouldn't make any difference to you, if I said I was to marry her?" he asked her father directly. Laura wasn't sure if Draco really intended on marrying her or if he was just saying it to rile them up even more.

                Roger turned at this declaring, "I would kill you first." 

                "Marry? You want to marry that filthy slag?" Lucius scowled.

                "That's right," Draco said assuredly.

                "You are no son of mine!" Lucius declared, casting him off.

                Draco deliberately stepped forward facing his father saying, "She means everything to me and if that means you disinherit me, so be it!"

                "Doesn't that hurt, Lucius?" Roger said, turning his attention back to his enemy, "Poor thing, you actually had a son and he disobeyed you, how does that feel? Better to have no son at all!"

                "You're just jealous!" Laura spoke up.

                Both fathers were shocked because she had never defied her father nor stood up to him before.

                She continued, "You're jealous of us because we have something neither one of you ever had: We are in love, which is something you cannot fathom! Our mothers never loved you and your own parents didn't love you! You both aren't capable of loving a house-elf let alone your own children!"

                Not believing that his son was in love with Marwood until then, Lucius exclaimed, "Good gods, Voldemort was telling the truth!"

                At the same instant, Roger punched his own daughter in the face yelling, "Shut it!" 

                She was sent flying backwards into Draco, but she wouldn't be silenced. "Voldemort was using us as collateral so you'd stick with him until he finished killing off Harry, but he failed at that!" She pulled herself up, beginning to tinge orange as she healed herself. She stepped back towards them persisting, "Just as Voldemort was a failure, so are the both of you at trying to keep us apart!"

                Draco got to his feet as well and stood beside her, adding, "Don't even try!" as he aimed his wand in defence.

                No one was certain who attacked who first, but spells Draco never learned were being released without warning. "_Ustolare_!" Once the first curse was said, all the remaining Death Eaters disregarded their orders and started battling each other in an all-out war.

                "_Examino_!"

Sirius, Harry, and Ginny approached the position in the dark, cloudy morning. Sirius pulled them back, "Stay close." 

                Ginny shivered, drawing her cloak more tightly around her as she took out her wand. How could Draco be so reckless? 

                "_Consternatio_!" Roger Marwood yelled in Lucius' direction.

                Lucius blocked it with "_Peremo_!"

                It was too late when Sirius strained to pull them back. 

                "_Flabrapulvis__ Exoculo_!" Roger roared and dust blew around and into the eyes of everyone but him. 

                Harry, Ginny, and Sirius covered their eyes and forged onward with their wands drawn. 

                "I thought you said he was dead," Harry said about Lucius Malfoy.

                "I thought he _was_," Ginny replied honestly, shrugging. When the dust settled and her vision cleared, Ginny turned her gaze from the pair of enemies to look on Harry. She hadn't _really_ looked at him closely in ages and she saw a different version of him than before. With the mortal wounding of his girlfriend, he was still able to be out here, battling evil. She admired his truly heroic quality and respected him more than she ever thought possible. He was all business, not allowing his thoughts to wander, as he focused on the task ahead.

                Death Eaters found them and Sirius warded them off before spotting Wen.

                Sirius realized Wen was dueling Snape and decided it best to help him out.

                "_Lacerare_!" Snape cursed Wen.

                "_Anguicomusa_!" Wen yelled in response, causing Snape's hair to zigzag forming into snakes.

                "_Avada__ Kedavra_!" Sirius intervened, attempting to kill Wen without second thought, but Wen disappeared. Sirius looked around, confused. "He couldn't have disapparated on Hogwarts grounds…"

                Harry followed and hissed in Parseltongue at the snakes, trying to keep them from biting Snape, giving him time to counter-curse it.

                Snape and Sirius then went after the remaining Death Eaters, who were fighting each other, while Harry and Ginny found Draco, Laura, Roger, and Lucius. 

A/N: First off, the Latin curses: scorch, confuse, kill (a variation on the avada curse, I'll say it means to mortally wound), blow dust into eyes, lacerate, and my personal favourite-snaky hair: Medusa, anyone?

Secondly, yay! Nearly a hundred reviews! I'm glad you all, with a few exceptions like my fic. Thank you so much for your kind words and advice/ideas!!


	33. An Interlude

_This chapter is dedicated to Alli-Baby because she's stuck with me through the whole story and because she rocks. Words cannot fathom the gratitude I wish to express to her._  
  
Hermione was in tears after Harry left and her only consolation was that Ron was left behind with her. Though Ron was feeling much better as it drew towards noon, he still had a lot of recovering to do. 

Professor McGonagall instructed the able-bodied students to help her move the injured students to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey needed more beds so she asked Ron and Hermione to leave. Hermione said she'd take care of Kelly and since there wasn't much anyone could do for her, the medi-witch helped her move Kelly to Gryffindor Tower. When Hermione returned, she helped Ron walk with her back to the common room.

Still unclear to the previous day's events, Ron asked her about it and she explained everything to the best of her recollection. She also told him how Laura healed him. "Bloody hell," he kept repeating.

On their way to Gryffindor, they ran into Lavender and Dean who look flustered, but well-rested. "Just came from the Astronomy Tower," Dean said, looking as if he was trying desperately to hold back laughter.

Hermione raised an eyebrow as she exchanged a glance with Ron. 

Lavender was holding her middle, smiling awkwardly.

"We happened upon-" Dean broke off laughing.

"Sienna and Seamus!" Lavender laughed aloud.

Dean could barely contain himself as he continued, "They were-you know-in their knickers—started throwing on their clothes and—"

"And we couldn't help but laugh and then Seamus said-" Lavender started between laughs.

"He said, '_Whatever! I'm a man now_!' and I-" Dean kept laughing.

"Then Sienna said, '_Seamus, I find you magically delicious_!" Lavender laughed even harder and this time, Hermione and Ron laughed with them.

"Are you serious?!" Ron chuckled though his sides started to ache. 

"She actually said that- in front of you?!" Hermione asked, bursting with laughter. "Wasn't she embarrassed?"

"She did!" Lavender exclaimed. "They had no idea You-Know-Who attacked!"

"You're kidding!"

Dean shook his head, smiling broadly. "Not a _clue_!"

After a few more minutes of chuckling, Dean finally noticed Ron was leaning heavily on Hermione and asked, "You OK Ron?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, placing more weight on his feet as if to prove it. 

"You lot on our way back to Gryffindor?" Lavender wondered.

"Yeah," Ron replied.

"Where's Harry?" Dean questioned.

Ron and Hermione exchanged uncertain looks. "I dunno…" 

Hermione added quickly, thinking on her feet, "Might be still in the hospital…you know, after Voldemort's attack…"

"Right," Ron backed her up, nodding.

"I guess I'll go have a look then," Dean said. "Hope you feel better, mate."

"Yeah, see you later then," Ron replied, thankful they had gotten out of what could have been an awkward situation. 

"Feel better," Lavender added before the two of them disappeared down the hallway.

Once the pair left, Ron leaned back on Hermione as he had before and she groaned from the weight. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"S'ok…" she replied, thankful their destination was only a few meters away. The duo hobbled through the portrait hole and directly headed for Ron's room. When they got there, she took his arm from around the back of her neck and laid him gently onto his bed. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" 

Ron's face registered shock at the reproaching tone of her voice. "What?" 

"Don't-" She couldn't say the word 'die', so she said instead, "Don't leave me-ever-" 

His expression softened and he pulled her arm towards his chest so she was sitting down on the side of his bed next to him. He used his better arm to reach up and fondle her gorgeous toffee-coloured locks. "We wasted so much time this year," he said. "I don't even remember why we were fighting. I'm such a prat!"

"I am too! I'm so sorry, Ron!"

He saw that she was near tears and it warmed his heart. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to be alive and laying there with Hermione sitting next to him. All the things he wanted to say to her before were just bursting to get out and he had no reason to hold them back any longer. "I'm glad it happened though." 

"Why?" She blinked back tears, holding the hand that he had previously ran through her hair.

He swallowed before admitting, "Because I was afraid-I was afraid because I wasn't sure you were the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with." He was proud that he hadn't choked on the words.

Now she was scared of where the conversation was heading. "Now you know?" she asked anxiously.

If he hadn't nearly died, he wouldn't have the courage to say all this. Maybe it was the healing herbs the medi-witch had given to him before he left the hospital? Yeah that must be it... "I do and I hope you'd consider giving me a second chance- one that would last forever if you'll have me. What I mean is: I wanted to ask you to marry me." He spat it all out so fast it was nearly incomprehensible. 

She could barely speak. Her mouth was wide open and she avoided his glance at first before she searched his eyes in awe. She had barely slept the previous night and wondered if it was possible she was dreaming all of this. Even if it were a dream, she didn't care anymore. "I love you," she told him before leaning over and kissing him passionately. 

When they parted, he asked her, nearly out of breath, "Is that a 'yes'?"

"Of course it's a yes, you prat!" she giggled, pressing her index finger on his nose, smiling. With butterflies of happiness and excitement in her stomach, she kissed him again. 

After kissing for a long while, Hermione lay next to him and he put his arm around her. Their contentment with each other, their hopes for the future, and thankfulness that neither one of them had been killed relaxed them so much that they fell asleep scant minutes later.

_Ron held out a small unwrapped box that Hermione recognized as a jewellery box. She opened it to find a silver ring that fit perfectly on her ring finger. "Will you marry me?"_

_ "Of course I will! Oh Ron, it's beautiful! I love you!"_

_ "I love you too."_

Hermione awoke an hour or so later, but was afraid to open her eyes. What if she _had_ dreamt it all? What if he was still unconscious in the hospital? She still felt his arms around her which meant it couldn't have been a dream. Could it? She cautiously blinked her eyes open and examined her left hand. She wasn't wearing a ring. Slightly panicking, she shot up, and looked back on the bed to find Ron laying there. She sighed.

Ron woke in an unbelievably cheerful mood. When he took in her downhearted expression, he thought she was having regrets. Making sure, he asked her, "That's still a 'yes', right? You're not having second thoughts?" 

Her expression drastically changed. She beamed, "Not single one!" 

"I love you," he told her as he pulled her towards him. 

"I love you too," she breathed just before his lips met hers. 

When Hermione went back to her own room to shower and change, Ron did the same, only it took him longer because of his injuries. Hermione went to get food for them after checking on Kelly, who didn't look any better than yesterday. When she returned, she and Ron ate in the common room and discussed their relationship. 

"I have to admit I wasn't sure you were right for me," Hermione told him openly. "We fought so much…"

"Sometimes I thought fighting was the only way to get through to you," he replied.

She shook her head, smiling. "We were so stupid…"

"Maybe _you_ were…but I certainly wasn't!" Ron said in a smug voice. 

"Shut it, you!" she laughed, tossing a piece of popcorn at him. "When do you want to get married?"

"Right away!" Ron exclaimed.

Hermione's eyes widened. "That's a bit soon, don't you think? I think we should wait a bit first."

"How long are we talking?"

"Ten years at least…" Hermione said seriously.

"Ten years?!" Ron cried. "Are you mad?!"

"Well, we have to see about being employed somewhere first and find a suitable place to live…"

"It wouldn't take _that_ long to find a job! Maybe two or three years best—" Ron asserted.

"Well, we're too young to get married!" Hermione insisted. "Six years then."

"A six-year-long engagement?!" Ron was nearly shouting. "Why not two?"

"Five!" Hermione debated.

"Three!"

"Four and a half!"

"Make it four!"

"All right," Hermione conceded. "Four years then." She couldn't help but grin. "Shake on it?" She thrust a hand towards him.

He pulled her to him and kissed her deeply instead. "It's a deal."

A/N: There ya go you R/H shippers hehe ^^ 


	34. Recovery

When Draco saw Potter, he was mad that he had shown up. At that moment of distraction, he wasn't able to block his father's curse and Laura was knocked to the ground. Draco ran over to her, shouting profanities out of fear and worry for her.

                Roger had a chance then to scorch Lucius, laughing all the while.

                "It's over, Roger!" Lucius spun around and said, "_Avada__ Kedavra_!"

                Roger cried out once as the green light encompassed him, taking his life away. Lucius turned away from the unearthly green light. Once his enemy was destroyed, he finally looked back at his son. 

                Draco had witnessed his father's murder of Marwood, but it didn't make up for him harming Laura. 

                Lucius was an adept and experienced dark wizard; a master of the Dark Arts. After ridding the world of one Marwood, he was ready to finish them all off. He approached the unconscious girl. Sniffing, he asked, "Is she dead?"

                Draco growled, turning his wand against his father in rage.

                Lucius had assumed his son would respond thusly. He didn't want to kill his own son even though he was in love with a Marwood, so he struck him with a harmful, but not deadly curse. He believed love to be fleeting and had no doubt Draco would return to his right mind eventually…especially after being disinherited leaving him without honour or wealth. Draco wouldn't last a week. 

                Lucius moved to pick up Laura by the collar of her blouse. What a helpless and weak creature this Marwood was! 

                Just as Lucius was about to snap her neck, he saw Potter and Weasley.

                "Put her down, Malfoy!" Harry commanded, aiming his wand at him.

                A threat from a seventeen-year-old normally wouldn't be taken seriously, but this was no ordinary teenager. Lucius tossed the girl to the ground.

                Ginny pulled Harry's arm saying, "Don't do it Harry." 

                He wasn't listening to her. 

                "You've already got enough blood on your hands!"

                Harry responded to this, thinking about his friends in the hospital and the bodies in the Great Hall. "I'll see you in Azkaban Malfoy!"

                "You can't prove a thing! And the witnesses are dead or unconscious," Lucius scoffed. Knowing it would only come to his undoing if he stood up against Potter, he stalked off, leaving Ginny and Harry alone with the body of Roger Marwood. The pair ran over to Laura and Draco, trying to revive them.

                Ginny knelt next to Draco, skimming her finger across his cheek. "Draco… Wake up!" She was rewarded when the he tightened the grip on her other hand and opened his eyes. "It's me, Draco… Come on…"

                "Riana…" he murmured. 

                Ginny's smile faded when he spoke. "It's me…Ginny." She was angry at the fact she still cared so much for him, but was thankful he was alive. She helped him sit up.

                Draco put a hand to his head and saw Potter leaning over Laura's form. "Riana!" he gasped.

                "She's still alive," Harry informed him. 

                Draco struggled to his knees shouting, "Get away from her, Potter!" 

                "I saved her life and I saved yours, you dim—!" Harry began to argue.

                "What about my father? Did you kill him?" Draco countered.

                "No," Harry frankly told him. 

                "Just letting him get away with all that? You're a pansy Potter! A _bleeding_ pansy!" Draco proclaimed in a threatening tone. He reached for his wand, but his wand-arm was injured badly. He cursed at his inability to do anything about it, but turned his attention to Laura instead. He worried that their child might be harmed as well.

                Ginny did a simple healing spell on Draco's bruised lip to stop the bleeding before helping him to his feet. "Do you know what spell hit you?"

                "Most likely Father's favourite," he said. "Give me my wand."

                Ginny picked up Draco's wand and handed it over to him.  

                He took it in his left hand and said a few unintelligible phrases. "Guess I was right," he chuckled sarcastically. He was now able to walk without help and Ginny was a little disappointed she wouldn't be helping him back to the castle.

                Harry was deeply concerned for Laura. He didn't want to lose her _and_ Kelly. "_Ennervate_!" he said. Laura was revived and she inhaled deeply before sitting up. "Hey," he said to her.

                "Harry?" she responded. 

                He nodded, smiling. 

                "I'm so tired…" she said. 

                "Let's get you back to the hospital wing. Can you walk?" 

                She nodded. "I think so." 

                Draco said another spell to counter the curse his father hit him with and walked over to where Laura was leaning on Harry. 

                She smiled at Harry, thanking him, but when she saw Draco approach, her smile brightened. 

                Harry noticed the change in her expression and that her smile was mostly directed at Malfoy, not him. He had been the one that saved their lives and this was the thanks he got? He didn't care how 'sincerely' Malfoy loved her; he didn't think it possible he could love her more than Harry obviously still did. He forced himself to think about Kelly and how she might be dead and felt stupid for being jealous. 

                On the way back to the hospital, Harry asked Laura, "Do you think you could have a look at Kelly when we get back? She was hurt pretty badly."

                Draco automatically refused for her saying, "How can you be so selfish, Potter? She needs medical attention herself and all you can think about is what she can do for you?! I thought you were the hero! Save her yourself!" 

                Laura wasn't fully able to comprehend the conversation, so she couldn't jump in.

                Malfoy telling Harry not to be selfish? Who did he think he was? But as they reached the hospital wing, Harry realized his request _had_ been rather self-centred. Malfoy was right. Laura needed to recover as well. But still, he didn't need Malfoy lecturing him on chivalry.

                Ginny folded her arms as she walked a few steps behind them, wishing it was her instead of Marwood. She knew she was jealous, but so what? Marwood had sunk her claws into Draco before Ginny ever looked at him as more than just another Slytherin. Ron had Hermione, Draco had Marwood, and Harry had the Ravenclaw girl. Ginny had no one.

                When they entered, Harry and Draco placed Laura on a vacant bed. Harry looked around for Madam Pomfrey, but didn't see her. He went over to where Ron used to be and found a Ravenclaw fifth-year instead. He turned around swiftly, searching for Kelly, but didn't see her either. "Where are they?" he asked no one in particular. He rushed over to the brown-haired medi-witch. "Where're Ron, Hermione, and Kelly?"

                "Back at Gryffindor Tower," she told him. 

                "Thanks." Harry dashed out of the room without a second thought. 

                "Harry, wait!" Ginny chased after him out of concern for her brother, but his legs were longer than hers and she fell behind. 

                Was she dead? Harry didn't think the medi-witch would have only said 'Gryffindor Tower' if that meant Kelly was still alive. She must have died… He'd ask Ron and Hermione. She couldn't be dead.

                Harry was shocked to find Ron and Hermione snogging in the middle of the common room when he entered. "You lot all right?"

                "Harry!" Hermione squealed when she saw him. She ran over to him exclaiming, "We're engaged!!" She hugged him so tightly he could barely breathe.

                Harry smiled for them, still in shock. "Er- Congratulations…"

                "Really?!" Ginny cheered. Her mood lightened at the relief that her brother was much improved and happy for the two of them. "That's great!" She gave Hermione a hug and slugged her brother in the bicep saying, "I don't see an engagement ring…"

                Ron scratched the back of his neck, about to explain, but first he saw the concern on Harry's face. "What happened out there? Is everything—"

                Harry cut him off rambling, "Where's Kelly? Please tell—that she survived—if she's dead, I don't know what—I don't know what I'd do. Where is she?  If she was gone—I feel so terrible about everything!"

                As he continued rambling, Ron talked over him saying, "She's upstairs." But Harry wasn't listening to him. "Settle down!" Since Harry wasn't hearing him, he simple pointed up.

                "She's dead! Oh my God…" Harry looked like he was about to collapse.

                "Harry!" Hermione shook him. 

                "Harry?" A faint female voice was heard from the upper level.

                Harry responded to it and looked up to see Kelly. She had staggered out of bed when she heard his voice and pulled herself out of the room, wanting to go to him. He saw that she was still very weak and ran up the stairs. 

                Kelly wasn't completely conscious, but tried her best to walk over to him. 

                He saw her stumble, but caught her in his arms and spun her around. He kissed her on her forehead, her cheeks, and finally on her lips, but she was out of breath soon and had to pull away.

                "Hey," she managed to say.

                "I thought I almost lost you! I was thinking, when you were lying there, what if you never woke up? And what if I could never tell you how much I love you? You mean so much to me, Kelly." 

                She smiled a smile that nearly broke his heart. "Yeah, I know," she said. "I'm hot stuff." She winked.

                He grinned at her remark, hugging her tightly.

                She winced in his embrace. 

                "Sorry," he apologized. He helped her back to the seventh-year girls' room. As he positioned her comfortably on the bed she was borrowing, he rambled again. "I remember the first time I saw you: you looked so beautiful and I thought about all the blokes that wanted you, never thinking that I could have a chance with you, and now I'm the one with you, holding you. I don't know what I would do without you—"  

                She slowly reached up to caress his face and touched his lips with her fingers to silence him. "I love you," she said breathlessly. She lay back on the pillows, closing her eyes in an exhale.

                Oh God! She didn't die, did she? "Kelly? Kelly?!" 

A medi-witch came over to where Draco sat next to Laura's bed. "You need to be treated," she informed him, observing his injured arm.

                "Shove off!" Draco responded.

                "At least have Madam Pomfrey examine you…"

                "I'm fine," he insisted, glaring at the younger girl.

                The Ravenclaw medi-witch decided it best not to press him any further—so as not to end up having to be examined for injuries herself—and let him alone with the other Slytherin.

                Draco slid Laura's blouse out of her skirt in order to check her side wound. He was surprised to find the slashes that had caused blood to seep through her blouse were almost completely healed, whereas the bruises on her neck caused by his father were not.

                His hand was cold to the touch causing her to tremble.

                "Can't you heal yourself, like you did earlier?" he wondered, uncertain if she could make sense of what he was saying.

                She looked over at him, still shaking as if she were nervous. "I can't… It must have been a fluke."

                "Can't you just _will_ yourself to do it?"

                "No. I don't think so."

                "It was amazing…" he reflected.

                "You think so?"

                "Absolutely," he replied, grinning.

                She gave him a weak smile in return. 

                A different medi-wizard-in-training came over to the pair with a handful of different food items. "Madam Pomfrey insists you eat something to replenish your energy." The medi-wizard set the tray next to her cot and left without another word as if he were afraid of a tongue-lashing from Draco.

                Laura sat up a bit and began eating, but she put down the glass of milk in a rush, just the smell of it made her nauseous. It was strange because she usually loved milk.

                "Something wrong, love?"

                "I think the milk's bad." She turned her nose up in disgust and forced herself to take another bite of food.

                Curiously, Draco took up the milk and smelled it. It smelled all right to him so he took a taste. He smirked. "Tastes fine to me…" He offered it to her again, but she refused. He shrugged saying, "More for me then."

                When she finished eating as much as she could, she regained more awareness and noticed Draco was far more injured than her. She wondered what his father had done to him. Slipping off the bed, she gently suggested, "Why don't you lie down?"

                "What about you?" he asked in response.

                "I'm much better now," she told him, "but you look like hell."

                Nodding, he gave in to his fatigue and lay on the bed. 

                She brushed a hand through his formally spiky blonde hair that was now mussed up from the ordeal and positioned herself on the bed, facing him. She outlined his face with her fingertips and drew them down his neck to his shoulders as she began to link with him in a healing trance.

                He didn't hear her voice in his head, but he could feel her emotions almost as if he could comprehend what she would be saying. He could sense that she felt stupid for being weak when the injuries she sustained weren't that serious, relieved at her father's death, and afraid of her uncertain future. It was strange, but somehow, he got the sense that their child was part of the trance as well; that their child had healed her wounds. He wondered if Laura knew it now too. They were truly part of something special and he was glad for it.

                After Laura finished and eased out of the trance, she questioned the look on Draco's face. "What?"

                Draco shook his head and decided not to tell her what he discovered saying instead, "You're rather handy to have around."

                "Why so you can _use_ me?" she joked, matching his smile.

                "So I can be certain _no one else does_," he said, taking her hand in his uninjured one.

A/N: Up next- chick fight! Ginny versus Laura. Bring your own refreshments.  
  
two more looong chaps and an epilogue(perhaps)! Then onward and up- I mean _down_ward as I proceed to the darker fic of the Death Eater Trilogy


	35. Gratitude

"She's just exhausted," a girl's voice interrupted Harry's panic. 

                Harry turned at the sound to meet Parvati's glance. She sat perched on the four-poster nearest the one Kelly lay on. "I just- I didn't know for sure…"

                Parvati was about to pester him about the death of Voldemort, but held her tongue. It was hard enough to refrain from asking him questions about what went down during the Graduation Ball, so she decided to step out of the room. She jumped off the bed in a less-than-graceful manner. 

                Harry stopped her from leaving, asking, "How has she- I mean- Have you been here long?"

                "She only got up just now, when she heard you downstairs," she responded as she went out the room.

                With that remark, he felt a little guilty that she had wasted her energy like that for him. The only thing he could think of as she lay sleeping was that he needed Laura to heal her. There was nothing else to be done to help her. He brushed her hair from her eyes and rose with resolved determination to steal Laura from Malfoy's side just long enough to convince her to help Kelly. 

                As Harry walked down the stairs from the girls' dormitories he didn't see Ron or Hermione in the common room. He dashed out of the portrait hole and headed for the hospital wing. 

                The medi-wizard gave Draco a potion to drink which would help him heal, but when Draco spotted Potter's head peeking in the hospital, he sprung from the bed, nearly knocking the medi-wizard over. 

                Laura had her back to the door at that moment. "What is it?" She turned and saw Harry hesitantly approaching.

                Draco fiercely grabbed her by the arm and Laura, who had better leverage was able to compel him to lie back down.

                "Laura?" Harry normally would have avoided a confrontation with Malfoy, but this was about Laura and Kelly, not Malfoy. "May I have a word?"

                Draco sneered jealously while Laura attempted to free her arm. Potter always had to have everything and always got what he wanted. Saint Potter, _the hero_, always saved the day and reaped the rewards, getting all the attention. Draco hadn't had a chance to murder Marwood because his father had already finished him off, but what irked him the most was that Potter ended up saving Laura out there, not him. 

                "I'll just be a moment," she told Harry. He nodded in response and exited the hospital to wait for her.

                "Don't indulge him, Riana," Draco directed.

                "You don't have to worry," Laura said huskily as she leaned near his ear, "He knows _I love you_."

                She meant to be enticing and Draco usually responded more agreeably to the way she was speaking to him, but this was not the case right now. He turned to look her straight in the eye as he informed her grimly, "He's still in love with you."

                Her face registered disbelief. "How can you know that?"

                "The way he looks at you…" he began. "It's the same way I do."

                She dismissed his stern expression giving him a quick kiss on the cheek saying, "I'm just going to thank him for saving us and then I'll be back," before bouncing from the room.

                Draco exhaled, reclining his head. Damn Potter always got what he wanted and Draco didn't like feeling that he owed anyone; especially Potter.

Laura skipped over to Harry and he observed, "I see you're doing much better."

                "I am, thanks to you," she expressed her gratitude. "If you hadn't been there, I'd probably be dead."

                Harry shook his head, nearly blushing, saying, "It was nothing." He cleared his throat, avoiding her eyes. He couldn't keep letting her get to him like that. It was almost like she had an ulterior motive like last year when she had tried to get him to kill Malfoy for her: she had this seductive quality to her like a veela that made him do whatever she said. He felt like she was causing him to forget why he had come to see her in the first place. He focused all his energy to think about Kelly. "I wanted to ask you a favour."

                "Anything," she replied smiling, "We owe you our lives."

                "I wanted to know if you could have a look at Kelly. She was injured pretty badly by Voldemort in his first attack last night. I know you helped Ron and I thank you for that, but I'd really appreciate you healing Kelly."

                Her reaction to his request was rather withdrawn. "I'm sorry Harry," she said, stepping back towards to hospital door. "I don't think there's anything I could do." 

                Harry caught her by the shoulder persisting, "Couldn't you just have a look at her?"

                Laura bowed her head, evading his ardent gaze and said, "I'm sorry," once more before returning to Draco's side.

                Harry didn't take that as a refusal and bounded after her. He raised his voice in the hospital saying, "You're the only one who can save her, Laura- You and your healing abilities! After all I've done for you, for both of you," he shot a look at Malfoy who was nodding off, "you won't even try?"

                Laura finally met his eyes. She took in the passion behind his request, but didn't rethink her answer. "No," she told him outright, leaving him in shock.

                Harry's mouth gaped open at her response. He felt as though he lost a part of himself. Kelly's life was now shortened inevitably and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He didn't say another word as he left the hospital. 

                Harry remembered the first time he met Laura, crying in the hallway after some other Slytherins teased her. He never thought—even this year—that she truly belonged in Slytherin. At least not until tonight… Through all the lies and manipulation, the abuse she had suffered from her father, the other Slytherins, and Malfoy…even when she was _with_ Malfoy…he still thought of her as innocent. Now she was a cold-hearted woman that belonged in Slytherin. It seemed like there was a hole inside him in which his disappointment in Laura flowed in, replacing whatever fond feelings he previously had for her. How could she do that to him? She denied him the one request he asked of her.

Laura watched as Harry's figure retreated and she knew he was angry with her. She felt bad that she refused to help him, but remembered how much she disliked Andersson. She recalled Harry two-timing the Ravenclaw by snogging Granger in the library and turned back to the one constant person in her life. 

                Despite their family names, the murder of their mothers, and the abuse they suffered on account of their fathers, she loved Draco anyway. He accepted and understood her, with all of her flaws, where others could not. Her thoughts were interrupted when Weasley called her name. She got up from Draco's side and approached the red-head. "What do you want?" she demanded.

                For a moment, Ginny merely glared at her before summoning her strength into her fist, making contact with the same cheek Marwood's father had broken skin.

                Laura was sent reeling backwards, totally unprepared for and shocked by the powerful punch the Weasley girl rammed into her. She put a hand to her cheek crying, "What was THAT FOR?!"

                "That was for refusing to help Harry," she said, her own cheeks burning with aggravation. She slugged Laura again. "That was for me!" Ginny declared.

                Beside herself with exasperation, Laura hysterically lunged at Weasley yelling, "BITCH!" She grabbed at Weasley's blazing red locks and yanked violently.

                Ginny cried out, but wasn't about to let Marwood get away with that. She pushed her backwards, but since her hair was still in Marwood's grasp, she wasn't able to get away. Her hands moved swiftly from Marwood's shoulders to her hair and wrenched downwards. Just when Marwood was about to have a good chunk of red hair in her hands, she was screaming at the pain inflicted by Ginny.

                Laura unclasped her hand so Weasley's hair was free, but kicked her knee. With Weasley's grip on her hair, the pair were soon rolling around on the ground, biting and clawing at each other vehemently.

                Conveniently absent, Madam Pomfrey was unable to stop the ensuing violence, while the medi-wizards-in-training kept a safe distance from the pair, utterly entertained by the duel. Draco was still passed out from the potion he was forced to drink and missed the fight between the two girls, but Zalemin—a fifth-year Hufflepuff who lay in a bed near Draco's—was wide awake.

                After more hair-pulling, somehow one of the girls was straddling the other; grabbing her by the shoulders and pounding her head on the ground. The other used all their remaining energy to punch the girl in the face before passing out. 

                In the end, Laura was sprawled on top of an unconscious Ginny and as luck would have it, Draco woke up at that exact moment. "What the—?" Figuring he was dreaming at the sight of two beautiful girls lying next to his bed, on top of each other, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep again.

                In the few seconds before two or three medi-wizards-in-training came over to set about healing them, stray thoughts and segmented emotions rapidly passed between them. 

                Once both of the girls were revived, they glared at each other from across the room. "Stuck up Slytherin slag!" Ginny cursed.

                "Jealous bint!"

                "Scarlet woman!"

                "Weasley!" Laura responded, as if it was a curse. She smiled, thinking she really oughtn't to play with Weasley anymore. She had nothing to fear anymore with her father gone and she was the one who would win. She was the one who was carrying Draco's child, not the Weasley girl. 

                Suddenly, at that instant, she knew she had a lot of growing up to do herself before this child would be brought into the world. She realized that she wouldn't be going back to school. Weasley had a family that loved her and a zillion older brothers that loved and protected her; sheltering her from the real world. Weasley would graduate from Hogwarts and have a chance at a real life. Laura would not.

                Ginny got out of the chair where she had been treated by a Hufflepuff medi-wizard and went over to see Draco while Marwood was staring off into space. From the short link with Marwood, she finally recognized the extent of Marwood's true caring for Draco and had a better understanding of Marwood's mind-set, but even though as she looked on Draco's sleeping form she could tell he had improved, she still retained some of her jealousy. As she caressed his face, she leaned towards his ear saying, "I love you..." Kissing his brow she said, "She better take good care of you or she'll have _me_ to deal with," before exiting the room.

Harry returned to Kelly's side, still outraged that Laura refused to help them. He willed himself to put on a better face when Kelly awoke, hoping every little bit helped her recovery go faster. "Hey," he said to her as she opened her eyes. "How're you doing?" He brushed her hair with his hand.

                "I hate being so weak like this," she told him honestly, "being stuck up here, not being able to go anywhere or do anything..." 

                "You'll be in good health before you know it," he said as confidently as he possibly could. He strained to put a smile on his face.

                "I'm glad you're here, Harry," she replied.

                "As soon as you get better, I'm taking you to get a wizarding cappuccino!" he decided. "And we'll go to the Quidditch Cup next year!" He wanted to make plans with her. He wanted to give her a reason to fight whatever weakness she had and continue to live. 

                "That's sounds brilliant!" she smiled brightly. "I've always wanted to attend a Quidditch Cup game!"

                Thinking along the lines of future plans, Harry mentioned, "Did you hear about Ron and Hermione getting engaged?" 

                "Who hasn't?" she responded, sitting up a bit so she could face him directly. "With Lavender and Parvati coming in and out of here, along with Hermione herself… That's all everyone can talk about besides Seamus and Siena!" She added as an afterthought, "I wonder if Snape's jealous?" 

                She knew just how to provoke him. "Shut up Kelly! What did I tell you about those bad mental pictures?!"

                "You know you like them!" she teased. Sobering a little, she asked, "So when are Ron and Hermione thinking about getting married?" 

                He shrugged. "I'm not sure. I wasn't really paying much attention when they told me, but I'm guessing it won't be for a while." 

                "I can't believe someone are age is engaged! I feel so old!" she exclaimed.

                "Yeah I know…but I guess if you know you want to spend the rest of your life with that person then…" He paused for a moment, examining Kelly's features carefully as he contemplated what to say next. He looked at her differently than all the other times. When he took in her expression, he saw a person he could see himself marrying, unlike Laura. He knew with Kelly, he could trust her and always love. He knew she probably wasn't going to live as long a life as she could have before Voldemort's attack, but whatever time she had left, he wanted to spend it with her. 

                Kelly saw the change in the way he was staring at her; partially making her feel uncomfortable and partially captivating her. "Harry… I know what you're thinking…" 

                Suddenly very nervous, he gulped, "You do?" 

                "Yeah I do," she said seriously before breaking the solemn atmosphere. "I think you want to…snog?" She laughed. "I'm just kidding… I know that—" 

                Before she could finish her statement, he pressed his lips to hers mostly out of fear of continuing their previous conversation, but also because he had the immediate urge to kiss her. 

It was a few hours later that the sleeping draft wore off and Draco awoke to see Laura in the chair next to him leaning on her elbow with her eyes closed. He rubbed his eyes and found he had use of both of his hands. Sniffing, he bent and flexed his arm, just checking that everything was in working order. He only winced a little when he made a tight fist with his right hand. Wondering what time it was, he looked around the room, seeing about the same amount of students and medi-wizards bustling around as before and the sun of early evening streaking through the windows. "Riana…" he called softly.

                "Hmm?" she mumbled sleepily as she slowly opened her eyes.

                "Why don't we head back to Slytherin? It'd be more comfortable," he suggested.

                She nodded and started to get up from the chair.

                Draco swung his legs over the side of the bed and put an arm around her waist, allowing her to lean drowsily on him, as they left the hospital without permission of any kind. Most of the staff was not enforcing strict rules about the comings and goings of students like when school was in session. Voldemort's attack on the school had far more damage in its aftermath than in the actual attack. It seemed there wasn't any true order anymore and all the unharmed students weren't listening to the Prefects; it was chaos in the hallways. "What did Potter want?"

                "For me to heal that Ravenclaw girl," she told him offhandedly.

                She didn't add anything else, so Draco persisted, "And what did you say?"

                "That I wouldn't."

                Draco didn't buy it. "Even though you thanked him for saving you—_us_?"

                "Yes," she answered straightforwardly.

                "You are truly _wicked_," he responded, tightening his grip around her waist as they started down a few flights of changing staircases.

                On their way down, they saw Professor Snape with Black. The pair looked winded, but undamaged as they rushed up an opposite staircase, obviously searching out the remaining Hogwarts staff to regain order in the school. 

                "If it was Harry, I'd heal him again, but _her_? Why should I help _her_ anyway?"

                He finished her thought, "You don't owe her anything."

                As they entered Draco's private chamber, he wondered, "Where are you going after school's out?"

                 "Home I guess." She shrugged. "I've never really been. I was only a few years old when I left, so I'll probably need to ask for directions," she partially joked, but they were both too tired to be that amused. 

                "Your father's house?" he asked, reclining on his four-poster. 

                She crawled next to him as she answered, "The Marwood mansion where he and my mother lived. I'll have to find all the documents of ownership," she yawned, "and his will…if he had one made out." Cushioning her head near his shoulder, she sighed. "What about you?"

                "Me? Hmm…" he pondered. "Hadn't thought much on it actually."

                 She knew he was thinking about his father disinheriting him and strove to remedy his disagreeable feelings. "It had to be one of us, you know. If it hadn't been you, it would have been me. Either that, or one of us would be dead." She smirked, saying, "You never know, my father probably had some clause written in his will about me not being able to marry a Malfoy if I'm to inherit." She laughed uncertainly at her remark, not sure if Draco even intended to marry her or not. 

                He took her comment seriously even though she laughed. "I'm not a Malfoy any longer, remember?"

                He didn't sound that concerned to her, but she was very tired and wasn't able to tell what reason he had to make such a statement.

A/N: Steamy shower scene up next! Oh and PS: it's with Harry…


	36. Proposals

A fortnight or so later… 

Professor McGonagall had the formal list of students and professors that were killed from the attack recorded and sent owls alerting the parents and/or legal guardians. The train was scheduled to take the last of the remaining students who weren't in need of medical attention to return home that Friday. 

Ron pulled Harry aside when he got a chance and told him how he wanted to make a trip to Hogsmeade before going back home. "I wanted to look at rings for Hermione…but I don't want her coming along. I want it to be a surprise."

                "But she already knows—you already asked her to marry you. How would it be a surprise?" Harry wondered.

                "Well, aren't you technically supposed to have a ring first before you ask? See, that's why. I want to ask her again…"

                "You're a dimwit, you know?" Harry shook his head.

                "Well, are you coming with me or not?"

                "Of course I am." Harry stopped himself short. "Wait, how are you going to keep Hermione occupied while we go?"

                "Er-yeah, see, that's the problem… I hadn't thought of any ideas." Ron looked at his best friend hopefully. "That's where I was hoping you'd—"

                "Got an idea!" Harry said, bounding up the stairs to the girls' rooms without another word, leaving Ron clueless. When he got to the seventh-year room he saw Lavender was painting Parvati's nails, but noticed Kelly wasn't there.

                "Kelly's back at Ravenclaw," Lavender informed him.

                "What?" Harry said aloud without thinking. How could she have returned and not even told him? She had been laid up in bed for over a week, just starting to walk around by herself, but was still frail. He wondered how she managed to get back there by herself.

                "She said she needed to pack up her things for the train," Parvati said.

                "Yeah…" Harry responded. "Sorry to bother you…" he said before leaving them. When he jumped down the stairs, he went over to Ron saying, "I'll be right back."

                "Hey wait!" Ron chased after him. "Wait a minute. Where are you going?"

                "Ravenclaw." Harry exited before Ron had a chance to say anything else.

                Ron slumped in a chair mumbling to himself, "Four hours later…" knowing that it'd take more than a few minutes for Harry to return.

Once Harry arrived at the Ravenclaw common room, he realized he didn't know that password and felt stupid for standing outside. Luckily, a fourth-year was on his way back from lunch so he was able to let the famous Harry Potter in without question.

                When Harry ran to Kelly's room, he found her packing, just like Parvati had said. "Kelly!" he gasped, "What are you doing? I can't believe you're out of bed, walking around in your condition!" He rushed over to help her with her things. "I thought you'd at least have someone helping you or something! I didn't know where you went and I thought—" 

                "Oh Harry you worry too much!" Kelly chided playfully. "I'm doing much better."               

                "I know, I know," he said, "but I don't want you to strain yourself." He took some clothes from her hands and placed them in her trunk himself. "Why don't you sit down or something?"

                "Don't worry so much!" Kelly tittered. "See, I'm fine." She attempted to do a little dance to illustrate her point, but faltered.

                Harry was there to prevent her from falling. "Sure you are." He lowered onto a chair with her on his lap. 

                She changed the subject swiftly saying, "Why are you so hot?" She both felt and heard his chuckling response and shifted to face him. She frowned a bit. "You know, you'd look much better without your glasses."

                Harry chucked them across the room and was surprised to find he didn't need them anymore. In fact, his eyesight had improved once again as if he had redone the spell. It was strange, but he didn't dwell on the fact. "That better?"

                "Much," she said, smiling as she leaned in to kiss him. "Now that I'm nearly all packed, I'd really like to take a shower."

                "Need any help?" he asked, blushing involuntarily.

                "Depends on who's offering." She rose carefully from her position and he followed her into her private bathroom. 

                He reached over to switch the shower on for her while she began stripping down. She paused a moment and he asked, "What's wrong?"

                "Nothing…" She was blushing anxiously. "It's just that this is like the secondtime you've ever seen me naked…"

                "Oh, well…I mean, if you want, I can just turn around or something…" he fetched for ideas as he turned away from her. "It'll just be harder to help…"

                While he wasn't looking she got into the shower and washed her hair quickly. She found it rather amusing that he was still facing away from her. "Could you hand me a washcloth?"

                He scrounged around for one. Once he found a clean one, he put one hand over his eyes while outstretching the other hand with the washcloth towards her. 

                "Damn it Harry! You just got soap in my eyes!" she accused him.

                He blinked his eyes open, seeing her laughing. He thought he actually _had_ gotten soap in her eyes, but it was entirely false. "Liar!" He tossed the washcloth at her and soon found himself being splashed with water. "And now my clothes are all wet!"

                "Guess you'll have to take them off."

                "But then you'll see me naked again," he pretended to complain just as she had, but in less than five seconds, he was back in the shower with her.

By the time Harry returned, Ron was thinking about grabbing Hermione to go to supper. "I was just about to send a search party."

                "Sorry Ron," Harry apologized.

                Ron took in Harry's drenched appearance. "Decided to go for a swim?"

                Harry blushed. "Er-not exactly… You wouldn't happen to have your wand handy, would you?"

                Ron took out his wand and did a simple drying spell. "Ready to go now?"

                "Go where?" Hermione entered, carrying a load of books.

                "Harry needed to get something at Hogsmeade before we leave tomorrow, right Harry?" Ron stuttered quickly.

                "Yeah. So um, Hermione, would you mind helping Kelly to supper then, since I won't be around…"

                Hermione glanced between her two best friends, knowing they were up to something. She decided to play along. "Sure, Harry." She was about to drop the heavy books. "I could use some help here."

                Ron promptly swept in to grab nearly all of the books she was carrying. "What're all these for?"

                "They were going to get rid of them!" Hermione exclaimed. 

                The pair bickered awhile about whether she really needed the books, but in the end, Ron was helping her put them in _his_ room in _his_ luggage because they wouldn't fit in hers. When they returned, Hermione was off to Ravenclaw to see Kelly and Ron questioned the look on Harry's face. "What?!"

                Harry snickered, "Nothing…"

When Harry and Ron got to the jewellery store, Ron found it odd that Harry was looking at rings too. "What about this one?"

                The store owner told him the price. 

                "Yeah I guess that one's fine," he replied. 

                Before Ron had a chance to purchase it he interrupted, "If we buy two, is there a discount?"

                "Two? Why would you need-OH ho ho, I see," the owner cackled. "Aren't ye boys a bit young? Well, I guess these days… I'll cut ye a deal, sure!"

                Ron smiled broadly both at the owner and at Harry who matched his grin.

Meanwhile, Hermione was going crazy. Siena was running off her mouth about how she and Seamus were going to move to southern California or New York or Detroit or someplace in the US while Lavender, Parvati, and Padma encouraged her outrageous behaviour.

                Kelly just sat there, eating slowly and trying to console Hermione with a few sympathetic glances even though she was being entertained. 

                "…and me and Seamus will have some kids too…"

                "Where's Seamus anyway?" Ginny wondered aloud, even though she was rather preoccupied staring at the Slytherin table where Draco and Marwood were eating.

                "So I hear Harry's going to ask you to marry him," Hermione changed the subject and directed her question to Kelly.

                "What?!" Ginny, Siena, Lavender, Parvati, and Padma's attention were turned immediately to Kelly and Hermione felt a twinge of regret for putting her on the spot.

                Kelly's mouth was wide-open in shock, but before she could say anything, Siena burst in, "Dang girlfriend! I'm so happy for you and damn he's fine like a mother**—**shut yo mouth!" She tried to put in as many new American slang phrases as she could with her Irish brogue peeking in now and again. "You'll be flossin' like whoa!"****

                Kelly looked at Hermione and blinked confused. "Huh?"

                Siena liked being misunderstood and probably didn't even know what she was saying herself half the time. She just liked the attention, so she exclaimed, "You don't know my _struggle_!" Just as she was about to leave her friends to search out Seamus, Professor Snape approached the table. 

                "May I have a word, Miss Kieran?" 

                Siena got up without another word and followed Snape out of the Great Hall.

                "I do NOT want to KNOW!" Lavender buried her head in her arms as she leaned on the table.

                Everyone laughed.

                When Snape and Siena re-emerged, he gestured for Ginny to talk to him. "Oh great," she sighed. 

                "It's been decided by Professor McGonagall and myself that you will graduate this year as well," Snape told her once they were alone.

                "What?" she was flabbergasted.

                "Black has been reinstated," Snape said in a regretful tone, "so he wanted you to be the first of his protégé."

                "Reinstated?" Ginny didn't understand.

                "You're to train as a specific kind of Auror. You'll work directly with the Ministry of Magic and have many _different_ and no doubt _well-paid_ benefits." Snape sniffed at this as though he coveted the opportunity she was being given. "Potter informed us of your agility and fearlessness in the face of Voldemort. He also told what you did—your wand-less magic—how you helped him defeat Voldemort. You have all the qualities of an Auror, Weasley."

                Ginny swallowed. "Thanks…" She didn't know what else to say, but was bursting with excitement. She would graduate early AND have a job! Not only that, she was going to be an Auror! How cool is that?! She could barely contain her excitement as she skipped back to the dinner table. 

On the way back from supper, Hermione was caught up into a large hug by Ron as Harry found Kelly and encircled her waist with his arm. Ron wasted no time in sliding the newly purchased ring on her finger before she even had a chance to see it. 

                "Ron!" she gasped. "It's too much!" She beamed.

                "Does that mean you like it?" 

                "Oh of course!" She gazed fondly at the unpretentious, but lovely gold ring. 

                Harry was giving Kelly his uncomfortable gaze again and they wandered off away from Ron and Hermione. "You know I love you, right?" he stuttered a bit. 

                "Of course I do." She struggled to keep her knees from shaking as they stood there.

                "I know that it's kind of soon, and I know we haven't gone out for a long time, but I know that I want to cherish every minute with you. I can't stand the thought of being without you," he nearly choked on the words. He got down on one knee. "Will you marry me?"

                "Are you sure?" She struggled to keep her balance. "I mean _really_ sure that I'm the one you want?" She wasn't so thick that she thought she would be living a long healthy life. 

                "Without a doubt," he answered as he kissed her hand. 

                "I don't want to disappoint you," she replied, choking on tears.

                "You have never disappointed me, Kelly." 

                She looked away, thinking it was too soon, but she knew that she felt the same way. "Yes, Harry, I'll marry you!" 

When Laura arrived at the Marwood mansion Friday evening, she was startled how peculiar it appeared. She hadn't been back in ages, and though she previously thought her memories were exaggerated, she found it to be just as large and intimidating as she remembered it. In contrast, the inside of the house was renovated to a great extent and there were a few servants and a house elf here or there that she didn't even recognize. 

                The only room she found to be the same was her mother's room. It seemed her father had left everything just as it was when she died. This rather eerie feeling came over her, but she felt her mother's memory was kept intact like the room and wondered if her father ever went in there after her death. 

                Curious as to what her mother was like, she explored the room, taking jewellery from cases and trying on some of her clothes.  She found a pale lilac-coloured dress that fit her perfectly. She looked in the full-length mirror and spun around, feeling the cloth move silkily over her golden-brown skin. When she glided into the hallway, one of the older servants mistook her for a ghost of her mother. "So glad to have to back with us, Madam," the elderly man said as he lowered his head to her.

                "No wonder he hated to look on me," Laura thought aloud. She went back to her mother's room to change back into her own clothes when Draco suddenly apparrated. 

                 "Nice dress…" he drawled.

                She spun around to face him, shocked. "Don't do that!" she chastised. "You gave me such a fright!" She then took in that he had apparrated with more than a few trunks. "You bring your whole house with you?"

                "Just everything that belonged to me," he told her. "I was in a rush though, so I'm not sure if I got everything. I wanted to do it before father got home…"

                She smirked, folding her arms. "So where do _you_ plan on living?"

                He took a step forward casually coiling a hand behind her neck sending chills down her spine as he said, "Well, I figured, I'd apologize to my father…" His other hand was exploring a small rip on the left side of the dress which she hadn't noticed until she felt his cool fingers there. 

                "Really…" she breathed relaxing her formally crossed arms back to her sides when he started kissing her neck.

                "No, not really…" he said between kisses. "My mother actually left a good sum of money to me," he whispered in her ear.

                Her eyes lit up a bit at this remark. "Is that all?"

                "No," he said before meeting her eyes directly. "She also left me this." He pulled an ornate diamond ring set in sparkling silver from his pocket and held it toward her. "It was hers. I want you to have it."

                "What for?" She tilted her head to the side, attempting to interpret his gesture.

                "I meant what I said before." 

                She didn't know what he was referring to; if it was about what he had sworn to her in the broom closet or what he had vowed in front of their parents. 

                Silence followed for a little while before he added, "I said I would take care of you and I promise I will. The only thing that hasn't been confirmed is if you'd be—if you'd consent to be my wife."

                "I've always been faithful to you, Draco. All this time, I never thought it would end up like this," she said, with tears in her eyes. "You've no idea how much I love you."

                Just as he did in the abandoned broom closet, he sank to one knee in front of her and she lowered onto her knees in front of him. Instead of pulling her into a hug, he took her left hand in his and slid the ring onto her finger. "Riana…I love you so much."

                By that time, the tears she had been holding back were freely streaming down her cheeks. "So you're going to marry me for my money, is that it?" she asked, grinning broadly.

                "Exactly," he responded nonchalantly before arcing over to tenderly kiss her. 

                Her eyes closed so she could fully experience the gentle meeting as her hands went to the back of his head to pull him closer. "So long as I know your intentions," she murmured against his lips, smiling.

                He smirked for a second when he took in what she said and then kissed her eagerly.

A/N: ::shippy sighs::   
On an evil note, I've had this fic done for weeks. I've been releasing only two chaps a week because I enjoy tormenting you by making you wait. Bwa ha ha ha HA! ::grins innocently in the sweetest way possible:: Come on, you don't want to kill me. You know you like it!


	37. Epilogue

A few months later…

"I can't believe you made the Chudley Cannons!" Kelly squealed, embracing her fiancé.

                "You better get all their autographs for me!" Ron exclaimed after congratulating him. 

                "Sure thing, Ron," Harry replied as he, Ron, Hermione, and Kelly walked around a wizarding town just outside London where he and Kelly planned on living once they were married.

                "You'll let me back in the locker room, right? So I can meet all the players…" Kelly flirtatiously requested, linking arms with him as they meandered down a byway.

                "Not fair!" Ron cut in, challenging Kelly, "I'm a bigger fan than you!" 

                "Not possible!" Kelly countered.

                "He really is, Kelly," Harry added, smirking.

                Ron and Kelly squabbled more about who owned the most Chudley Cannons memorabilia before Hermione exclaimed, "Enough Quidditch talk!"

                "Oh, come on 'Mione. I know how you secretly love Quidditch and how much you love to watch the two most handsome men in the world get all sweaty—" he referred to himself and Harry.

                She loved how he made her blush with embarrassment. "Shut it, you!" She elbowed him playfully.

                He feigned pain. "Really hurt me there, 'Mione."

                "You are infuriating sometimes, you know that, Ronald Weasley," she replied, shaking her head. 

                "How will you ever manage being a Mrs Wealsey?" he teased.

                Harry and Kelly were still talking about Quidditch despite Hermione's opposition. "I'm not a big fan of the colours though," Harry was saying.

                "What, you'd rather be in the Appleby Arrows with their blue and sliver?" Kelly wondered.

                "Not a chance! Malfoy's that team's seeker now."

                "Major competition between the two teams now, eh?" Kelly said, "So much, the better. You'll kick his ass like you did at Hogwarts." She smiled, partially wishing she could have tried out as well. At least she'd be able to watch Harry play; that was a comfort.

                "Malfoy's in the Appleby Arrows?" Ron asked. "They're horrible!"

                "At least he's not in Puddlemere, like Wood," Harry put in.

                "Good point," Ron conceded.

                "Why don't we go for a cup of tea?" Hermione attempted to shift the conversation for the fifth time to anything but Quidditch.

                "Good idea," Kelly said, trying not to show she was feeling tired. "It's hot out here."

                The four of them wandered into a café and Ron picked up a _Daily Prophet_ to look for complete Quidditch team listings while Hermione and Kelly ordered drinks. "There's your name Harry!" he praised his best friend, handing him the sports section. 

                When Hermione and Kelly returned to the table with the drinks, Hermione's eyes were on the front page. "Malfoy was married?" she gaped, pulling the front page out of Ron's hands to read aloud, "_A century's worth of rivalling finally laid to rest as the children of suspected Death Eaters Lucius Malfoy and the now deceased Roger Marwood were wed last night…_"

                "Malfoy and Marwood got hitched?!" Ron cried; too shocked to even believe it true. He leaned eagerly over Hermione's shoulder to read along with her about the wedding. 

                Hermione continued after catching a glimpse of Harry's shocked expression. "_Lucius Malfoy was not in attendance or able to be reached for his comment on the union. It's rumoured that he disinherited his son for marrying Lauriana Marwood, so the couple would become Malfoys in name only, not estate. However, after the questionable death of her father, Roger Marwood, the new Mrs Malfoy inherited the Marwood estate. The mansion alone is estimated worth ₤4, ---, ---…_ Bloody hell!"

                "Hermione!" Ron gasped at her curse. "That's my line!"

                She glared at him. "I have to keep you on your toes, right?"

                "How's that?"

                "Well, I don't want you to get bored of me…" she said, folding up the forgotten _Daily Prophet_. 

                "I could never—" he started to say.

                "I don't want you to get used to me," she said, grinning.

                "I wouldn't mind getting used to this…" he said, putting a hand to her cheek as he leaned over and kissed her.

                Harry threw a napkin at the pair, declaring, "No one wants to see that!"

                "Oh shut up and kiss me, Harry!" Kelly ordered and he obeyed, promptly putting his lips to hers.

                                                                The End

A/N: And if you think they all lived happily ever after, you're either very optimistic or you should make an appointment for a psychological examination…   
  
I also wrote a handful of alternate endings (most of them comical) to choose from if that tickles thy fancy. I figured, why have merely one ending when you can write a dozen?

**Happy Ending Lovers**: If you don't want to find out what happens next, don't read the third instalment of the trilogy of Death Eater fics. Just giving you a fair warning! ;-)

**Angst/Mystery Lovers**: Evilness ensues in the darkest of the Death Eater trilogy entitled: _So I Married a Death Eater_, which will most likely be rated R. Follow the link in my sig. 


	38. Alternate Ending 1: Draco and Laura die

When Draco saw Potter, he was mad that he had shown up. At that moment of distraction, he wasn't able to block his father's curse and Laura was knocked to the ground. Draco ran over to her, shouting profanities out of fear and worry for her.

                Roger had a chance then to scorch Lucius, laughing all the while.

                "It's over, Roger!" Lucius spun around and said, "_Avada__ Kedavra_!"

                Roger cried out once as the green light encompassed him, taking his life away. Lucius turned away from the unearthly green light. Once his enemy was destroyed, he finally looked back at his son. 

                Draco had witnessed his father's murder of Marwood, but it didn't make up for him harming Laura. 

                Lucius was an adept and experienced dark wizard; a master of the Dark Arts. After ridding the world of one Marwood, he was ready to finish them all off. He approached the unconscious girl. Sniffing, he asked, "Is she dead?"

                Draco growled, turning his wand against his father in rage.

                Lucius had assumed his son would respond thusly and struck him with a harmful, but not deadly curse. "Are you in love with her?!" he demanded. When Draco didn't respond he continued, "Are you still in love with her?!"

                "Yes…" Draco murmured, blood oozing from his lips.

                Lucius hissed, "You are NO SON OF MINE! _Avada__ Kedavra_!" Lucius moved to pick up Laura by the collar of her blouse. What a helpless and weak creature this Marwood was! 

                Just as Lucius was about to snap her neck, he saw Potter and Weasley.

                "Put her down, Malfoy!" Harry commanded, aiming his wand at him.

                A threat from a seventeen-year-old normally wouldn't be taken seriously, but this was no ordinary teenager. Lucius tossed the girl to the ground saying the killing curse before Potter could block it

                Ginny saw Draco on the ground and ran over to him crying, "DRACO!!" She pulled him into her arms as Harry faced Lucius. "Why?!" Tears streamed down her face. "Why? Why? Why?!" She kissed his bloody face, quaking with sobs.

                "You murdering son-of-a-bitch!" Harry yelled. "I'll see you in Azkaban Malfoy!"


	39. Alternate Ending 2: Laura dies, DG

Lucius was an adept and experienced dark wizard; a master of the Dark Arts. After ridding the world of one Marwood, he was ready to finish them all off. He approached the unconscious girl and said the killing curse once. 

                Draco shook his head, as if he has been under a spell. His mind cleared and the whole second half of the year was a blur to him. 

                Ginny and Potter showed up, confused at what had taken place. Potter ran over to Laura's body, attempting to revive her while Draco looked up at Ginny. "Ginny…"

                She knelt next to him, taking him in her arms. "I'm here, Draco."

                He shook his head and looked deep into her eyes as if seeing her for the first time. 

                Lucius looked on as his son finally realized the truth. 

                "She was manipulating me the whole time-with her mind-control," Draco told her. "Her powers  were stronger than she admitted. She was trying to get me killed by mucking with my feelings. I've only loved you. This whole time- It's always been you, Ginny."

                Ginny could hardly believe it was true. "Draco…"

                He continued, "Gods! I never deserved you… I thought the time we were together—"

                She interrupted, staring deeply into his eyes, "Draco-" She wished she could drown in those soft grey eyes for all of eternity. She could barely speak, but words were no longer needed between them. 

                "I love you, Ginny!"

                She finally heard him say it and wept at the words she never thought she would hear from him. Pulling him close to her, they grasped each other as if they would never see each other again. They held each other for awhile, content in their embrace.

                Lucius approved of the pair, thankful that Laura Marwood wasn't the object of his son's affections. 

Since Draco hadn't sided with Voldemort or the Death Eaters, Harry, Ron, and Hermione reluctantly accepted Ginny and Draco as a couple. After displaying their loyalty to each other and explaining Laura's manipulation of them, even the Weasley family was no longer able deny the change in Draco brought on by Ginny and in time, their wedding was arranged. 

                Draco got a job at the Ministry and married Ginny two years after she graduated from Hogwarts.

A/N: I think I'm a D/G fan at heart…an unlikely pair with great chemistry. ::shippy sighs::


	40. Alternate Ending 3: Happy DG, HL

A/N: Christine requested I put a Japanese ending, for some odd reason. So here it is. 

Draco pulled Laura to him confessing, "俺なんか…話したいことある…" [I have something I want to tell you.]

                "どんな？" [Like what?] she wondered innocently like a anime heroine. 

                "あのう、" [Er-] Draco paused to clear his throat before continuing, "生まれてからお前こと好きなんだ。" [I was born to love you.]

                "信じられない！" [I don't believe it!] Laura gasped.

                "本当に、ウソじゃないよ。" [It's true, not a lie.] His eyes bored into hers, almost begging her to believe him.

                "マジ…" [no way…] Laura said, taking it all in. She needed him to know the truth though. Plucking up her courage, she told him, "でも、実は貴方こと好きじゃないよ。ハリーが好きなんだよ。" [But, the truth is, I'm in love with Harry.]

                "ワ～！" [WHAT!] He freed her shoulders from his grasp, still unbelieving. "そうなんだ？！" [Is that true?]

                "そうだよ," [yep.] she said in a quieter voice.

                "あら！" [What the-] Draco gasped.

                "やった！" [YES!] Harry cheered, coming over to them. He pledged, "愛してる！" [I love you!]

                With tears in her eyes, Laura hugged Harry saying, "いなくて寂しかった。" [I missed you!]

                Draco walked away from the two, thinking about Ginny. He went over to her and told her, "お前と出逢う為だけに、生まれたなら変えられるかな…" [I wonder, if I was born to meet you if I could change.]

                "何でそんなに?!" [What the hell are you talking about?!] she exclaimed, feeling like his second choice. When he avoided her glance, she instructed him, "私を見ててよ。" [Look at me!] He still wasn't looking at her, so she commanded, "私のことだけ見ててよ。" [Just look at me!] Once he obeyed her, she continued, "どんなに良くったって信じきれないね。側にいるから、もっと話そうよ…" [Even though it was so good between us before, I guess we can't stop believing, right? Well, since you're with me now, let's talk some more."

                Instead of replying, he leaned over and kissed her. She didn't feel like a second-resort any longer. She knew that he was where he belonged: in her arms.


	41. Funny Ending 1: Love Who?

Kelly blocked Voldemort's curse and pulled on Harry as she fell. "I love you, Harry!"

                "Well, I lied. I've always been in love with Laura. I just said it so you'd sleep with me," Harry admitted. 

                "Oh crap!" Kelly said, falling to the floor, dead. 

                Harry shrugged and killed Voldemort then went off to see how Ron and Hermione were faring in the hospital wing. 

A/N: I actually _was _going to kill off Kelly in the Great Hall scene, but then I thought it was too mean, so haha….I made it into a comical alternate ending ::grins::


	42. Funny Ending 2: Babies!

"Harry, I'm with child!" Kelly exclaimed, rushing into the Gryffindor common room after Voldemort and all those evil Death-Eater-types were conveniently killed off in the previous chapter. "With _your_ child!!"

                "But we only did it the one time-" Harry adamantly refused to believe it.

                "It's only 99.7% protective!" Kelly shook him desperately. "And P.S. Neville was better!"

                "What?!" Harry yelled. "You said I was your first!"

                "First of the week!" she countered.

                Ginny butted in decreeing, "I'm pregnant too!" trying to compete with Kelly because she was still crushing on Harry.

                Neville spoke up, "Why is it always me?"


	43. Funny Ending 3: Fatal Flatulence

Amidst the raging battle between the two factions of Death Eaters, Dominar Rygel the Sixteenth of Hyneria landed a transport pod in the middle of the Dark Forest. He peed acidic pee on all the evil dudes, luckily missing Harry, Ginny, Laura, and Draco. 

                Once all the bad dudes, including Roger and Lucius, were killed from the acidic pee, he declared, "I'm not your Dark Lord, I'm your Dominar."

                Harry, Ginny, Draco, and Laura bowed down to their new master.

A/N: Save Farscape! http:// savefarscape.com


	44. Funny Ending 4: Just Wrong!

Lucius reveals the truth about the hatred between Roger and Lucius. "Draco, you cannot love this girl! Lucretia never died, she just changed her name to Narscissa!"

                "You mean—" Draco started to understand.

                "You're half-silbings!" Lucius declared.

                "NOOOOOOO!" Draco and Laura exclaimed.

                "That's just…wrong!" Ginny said to Harry who was vomiting.

Everyone in the audience groaned: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW!!"


	45. Funny Ending 5: Evil Overlord

...and with one last gasp Wen defeated the last of the wizards, becoming sole ruler over all muggles.  

                The muggles had choice but to obey him and his roving bands of minions whose mission was to search out and slaughter anyone showing magical talent. Under his evil rule, even the beautiful seductress Laura Marwood had to be killed off; an unfortunate price to pay when the reign is purely evil.


	46. Funny Ending 6: Return of Voldy

Voldemort never died and killed Lucius and Roger for their betrayal. 

  
Voldemort: _turning to Harry_ Join me and we can rule the Earth as Scarhead and Voldy. Bwhahahahahaa!  
Harry: Sure, that'd be great…NOT!  
Voldemort: But I'm your father, search your feelings, you know it to be true…  
Harry: Erm, no…that's kind of impossible…but OK if you want to think that, go for it…dumbass…  
Voldemort: I foresee you becoming the greatest of all wizards, Harry Potter, even better than Albus Dumbledore!  
Harry: _laughing_ Good call. _pauses__ before saying_ Avada Kedavra!

*Huge blast*

In the hospital wing:

Ron: _trying to convince himself _I'm sure Harry wasn't killed in that blast…  
Hermione: _spacing out freakishly _He wasn't. I can feel it.   
Ron: _pissed off_ You love him, don't you?!  
Hermione: _like 'no duh!'_Yeah, of course.  
Ron: _irritated _When Harry comes back; I won't get in the way.  
Hermione: Good. Thanks.  
Ron: _unbelieving _WHAT?  
Hermione: Good. Bye. _Runs out of the hospital wing to find Harry and snog.___

A/N: Shudders at the thought of H/H yuck! I think that was the most evil of all my alternate endings.  
::breathes in and out, trying to use the force to will those disgustingly evil thoughts away::

Now that you've read the last of my alternate endings, I know you're just dying to read more of my work. Well…

**Happy Ending Lovers**: If you don't want to find out what happens next, don't read the third instalment of the trilogy of Death Eater fics. Just giving you a fair warning! ;-)

**Angst/Mystery Lovers**: Evilness ensues in the darkest of the Death Eater trilogy entitled: _So I Married a Death Eater_, which will most likely be rated R. Follow the link in my sig. 

If we shall ever meet again, I thank you for the time you spent reading this fic. Love and appreciation goes to all my reviewers. You guys are the best! Thanks so much! Write on!


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